


Got to try and keep a secret

by willowmellontree



Series: Torchwood's child [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Actually I think you might cry at the end, Angst, Child Death, Crossing Parallels, Episodes are in the story, Family, Fluff, Minor Character Death, Multi, Rift (Torchwood), Series 03 Fix-It: Children of Earth (Torchwood), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25864459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowmellontree/pseuds/willowmellontree
Summary: Basically, the story where the rift picks up a little girl from our universe and drops her off in Jacks universe...A story full of secrets that can't be told in fear of a paradox and a little girl who warms the hearts of so many people.Will she find out what she's meant to do before time runs out?
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Torchwood's child [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954051
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	1. Torchwoods child

**Author's Note:**

> It's an odd idea but I hope you enjoy it. Please tell me honestly what you think about it.

Ianto Jones was walking in the hub archives when he saw something odd. There was a small figure crouched down in the shadows, so he switched the lights on to get a proper look. There was a little girl, fast asleep on the stone-cold floor. She had long red hair, and she was wearing pink pyjamas. He turned on his comm unit. “Sir. I think you’re going to want to look at this.”

“What’s going on, Ianto. There’s been rift spike and we can’t find out where it was or if it dropped anything.” Jack’s voice said over the comm.

Ianto spoke again.” I think I found it, sir.”

“Ok. Owen and I are coming down.” There was a pause over the line. “Do you have any idea what it is?”

Ianto pretended to think. “I might be wrong, but I think she’s a little girl around the age of five or six.”

Jack didn’t reply, so Ianto knelt beside the little girl and checked her pulse. It was perfectly normal. Owen and Jack arrived not too long later with some kit. Jack was holding a gun.

“Did you hear what I said when I told you she’s a little girl,” Ianto said. Owen did some scanning.

Jack rolled his eyes. “She could be an alien. She could be dangerous.”

“No, She’s a healthy human child,” Owen told them. “I’m going to have to do some proper tests though, just in case.”

Ianto picked her up, and the three of them walked to the medical bay. Ianto laid her down and went to make coffee for the others. The Cog door opened and Tosh stepped through with her computer bag held on her shoulder. She went over to her desk and switched on everything she needed and started on her work. Ianto had finished the coffee so and he put one gently on her desk. She looked up at him and smiled softly. “Morning Ianto. Anything new happened in the night I should know about?”

“I found a little girl in the archives. She’s in the medical room with Jack and Owen at the moment.” He went to give the other two their drink and then came back up to Tosh. “Have you learnt anything new about that glove that came through yesterday?” He asked.

Tosh shook her head. “Nothing I’ve noticed. You should ask Suzie when she comes in this afternoon.”

“She took it home with her, didn’t she,” Ianto stated. “I’m assuming Jack doesn’t know.”

Tosh did some clever things with her computer. “He’d go ballistic if he found out.” 

Ianto nodded and collected his Coffee in which he drank pretty fast. He went back down to the medical room where Owen was checking blood pressure. Jack was standing on the balcony and watching Owen work while drinking his Coffee.

“I gave her a sedative,” Owen said out loud when he noticed another human presence. “She should be awake soon, though. I have everything I need and there is nothing to worry about.”

“Apart from the fact there is a little girl in the hub and we have no idea who she is or where she came from,” Ianto said.

At that moment, the little girls slowly opened her bright green eyes and sat up. She looked around the room, suddenly realising she wasn’t where she was before she fell asleep, but she was very calm. Her eyes fell on Jack and she tilted her little head. “I know you.” She said to Jack. “You’re in Doctor Who.”

OOO000ooo~TORCHWOOD~ooo000OOO

The three men looked at her in confusion. Jack walked down the stairs so he could have a conversation with the little girl. “What’s Doctor who?” He asked her.

The little girl looked up at him. “It’s about the Doctor and he travels in time and space with other people and he can change his face. Sometimes he’s with Rose and sometimes he’s with Martha and sometime’s he’s with Donna and the fight the Daleks and Cybermen. I don’t like Daleks though because they’re scary.” Jack looked at Ianto and Owen, who both looked surprised. “Where am I?” She asked.

“Cardiff,” Ianto said before the other two could badly explain they were in a secret alien base.

The little girl’s face lit up. “I went to Cardiff last month.” She explained. “We went to the Doctor who museum, and we went to the enormous water tower. My sister said there was an invisible lift that went down to the secret Torchwood base.”

Jack studied her face carefully. She seemed to tell the truth. “Could you tell us your name?” He asked her.

The little girl nodded and held out her hand. “Rhia Leanne Jones.”

Jack took her hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Rhia. I’m Captain Jack Harkness. This is Doctor Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.” He took her hand, and they walked out of the med bay and into the main room. “That over there is Toshiko Sato.”

Tosh looked away from her computer and waved at Rhia. The little girl smiled. “You’re in Doctor who as well. The one with the Slitheen and the Space pig.”

Tosh looked up warily at Jack, and he gave her a look, so she nodded. “Yes. I saw a space pig.”

Rhia smiled. “So this is all real then?” She asked Jack.

“Yes, it’s real.” He started walking to the Boardroom. “Team meeting in twenty minutes. Ianto, could you get our guest something to eat?” Ianto nodded and took Rhia up to the Kitchen. “Tosh, could you call Suzie in? She needs to be informed.” Tosh went to work. “Owen, do something useful.” 

Twenty-five and a half minutes later, the Torchwood team (Suzie hadn’t arrived yet.) and Rhia were sat at the table. The little girl was munching on some grapes and biscuits and sipping a glass of milk. The team asked the little girl important questions like what year she came from (2020) and who the prime minister was and everything. They concluded that the rift had taken her from a parallel universe where everything was fiction and dropped her into this one. They didn’t know what to do with her, though. They couldn’t send her back home and they couldn’t retcon her because it would be too dangerous for someone at that age. Jack didn’t trust her to spend her entire life keeping quiet, so he asked his team for suggestions. 

The meeting had run on for two hours before they all agreed on something.

“We could look after her.” Tosh piped up. “Keep her away from all the dangerous stuff. Send her to school. Make sure she has a normal enough life.”

Ianto nodded. “She doesn’t know too much about Torchwood. So long she doesn’t talk about aliens too much, we should be fine.”

Jack considered it for a second before saying. “Alright. But she’s all of our responsibility.” 

“Does anyone have a spare room?” Owen said. “I do, but it’s not fair on the poor girl to stay with me.”

“I have one that’s free,” Ianto said.

“As do I,” Tosh added.

Jack nodded. “Ok. Would it be alright if both of you could take her for a certain amount of time each?”

Both of them nodded. Jack turned to Rhia, who had been listening and understanding every word. “Is this ok with you?”

“There’s not really another option.” Rhia sighed. “Ok. Yes, it’s fine.”

Jack nodded. “Now we have that problem sorted. Where the hell is Suzie?”

“Not here,” Ianto answered. 

Tosh stood up. “I’m going to take Rhia shopping for some quick essentials.” Rhia stood up and took her hand and they left the room. The other three followed them so they could get something done. 

Something in the corner of the room caught the little girl’s eye, and she grinned cheekily. She let go of Tosh’s hand without the woman noticing and went towards a 1940s gas mask. She put it and walked up to Jack, who hadn’t seen her yet, and she tapped him on the arm. He turned around, and she loudly said, “Are you, my mummy?”

He jumped out of his skin. Few things made Jack jump like that, but this was one of the few things that did.

“What was the point of that?” He asked her.

She took the Gas mask off. “Those episodes were scary.”

Jack nodded. “Don’t talk about the episodes too much. Some of them will be in our future and it’s not good for people to know their own future.”

Rhia nodded. “I can handle that. What’s the date today?” She asked.

“23rd August 2006,” Jack told her.

“Ok.” The little girl said. “Just over a month before Torchwood season 1 starts and that means I can talk about Doctor who seasons one and two.”

Jack turned back to what he was doing. “You’re a smart girl.” He told her.

“My teacher said that I should be in year five,” Rhia told him.

Tosh went over to them. “Are you ready?” She asked the little girl.

Rhia nodded and held on to her hand as they made their way out of the hub via the magic lift (That’s what Rhia called it.) The two of them went to the nearest clothes shop and brought a few summer clothes and a few winter clothes along with some trainers, boots and a coat and a hat. They then went to buy a toothbrush, a hairbrush, some hair bobbles. They went past a toy shelf and Rhia looked longingly at a teddy bear. It looked exactly like the one she had back at home. Tosh gave in to the look she was giving the teddy, so she brought it for her.

They went back to the hub with bags full of the things Tosh brought for the little five-year-old. Ianto came down with a cup of Coffe for Tosh and some Juice for Rhia. “Ianto,” Tosh called. “Do you have a bed in that spare room of yours?” She asked.

“I’m assuming you don’t.” Tosh nodded. “I’ll take her first then.”

Rhia took her teddy out of one bag and went to see Owen. He was at his desk drinking the freshly brewed coffee Ianto made.

“Owen?” 

Owen spun around in his chair to face her. “What do you want?” He asked.

“Am I allowed to be here?” She questioned.

Owen itched his neck. “Explain.”

“Well, my sister said that I’m not allowed to watch Torchwood because you have to be fifteen. I asked her why it was a fifteen and she said it was because there were a lot of rude things in it.” The small girl answered. 

Owen tried not to laugh at her small child innocence. “Watching a TV show and living in it are two completely different things. You’re not going to be seeing anything you shouldn’t. The worst it will get around here is me swearing. Maybe a bit of blood. But that’s it.” He told her.

Rhia sighed in relief. “That’s good. I accidentally on purpose watched a few episodes of Torchwood when no one was looking. There was nothing bad in it. Just Ianto and Jack kissing.” Rhia realised what she had said and slapped both hands over her mouth. 

Owen burst out in laughter and the other three went over to find out what was going on. He said nothing and calmed down a bit, but he started it again when he saw Jack give Ianto one of those really loving looks. 

Rhia didn’t understand what was so funny, so she went to sit on the old sofa. She sat back and clung onto her teddy bear while thinking of the situation she had gotten herself in. The Cog door opened and a woman, who Rhia didn’t recognise, stepped through.

Jack stormed up to the woman and raised his voice. “Suzie. Where have you been?” He had his arms crossed and his face was angry.

“I told Tosh that I was coming in this afternoon.” She didn’t look bothered by the fact she was getting told off.

“Yes. And I told you to come in four hours ago.” He retorted. “We had an important matter to discuss.”

Suzie looked towards Rhia. “Oh yes. The child that fell through the rift from another universe. We keeping her?” She asked.

“Yes,” Jack said in the same tone. “Suzie Costello meet Rhia Jones. Rhia, this is Suzie.”

The small girl nodded. She saw Ianto, so she got up and went to him. “Isn’t there supposed to be a dinosaur here?” She asked. “My sister said Torchwood had a Pterodactyl called Myfanwy.”

Ianto smiled. “We do. I’ll introduce you.” He took her up to Myfanwy’s nest and opened the hatch to let her out. Rhia stared at her in awe. “Don’t move too quickly,” Ianto told her. “Hold your hand out slowly and then wait for her to make the next move.”

“Sounds like Buckbeak in Harry Potter.” She told him.

Ianto smiled. “What gives you the impression we have Harry Potter in this universe?” He asked.

Rhia shrugged. “It’s an episode in Doctor who. It’s in season three though, so I’m not allowed to talk about it.” She thought for a moment. “Technically, it’s in the past because it has Shakespeare in it.” Myfanwy came up closer to the little girl and Rhia slowly stroked her. “She’s oddly soft.”

“Not many people can say they’ve stroked a Pterodactyl,” Ianto told her.

“That’s because everyone would think they were crazy if they said anything.” She said without taking her bright eyes off Myfanwy.”

Ianto fished some dark chocolate out of his pocket and threw it into the air for Myfanwy to catch. “True.” He looked at his watch. “About four hours left unless the rift gives us any more grief. What do you want to do?” He asked.

“Have you got any drawing stuff, please?” She asked. He nodded and gave her some paper and pencils. “Thank you.” She said, and she spent the next three hours and a half drawing multiple Tardis’s, a few Daleks and she even attempted to draw every character she could remember just in case she met them but she forgot what they looked like. She also wrote their names on top of the drawings. Rhia was pretty good at writing and spelling for a five-year-old. This meant most people could know what she had written without having to ask them what it said. She could also draw pretty well for her age, so people could tell what she had drawn. 

As she drew, the rest of Torchwood sorted out their own business. Ianto went down to tend to Lisa before sorting through a pile of files that the others had given him. When he had finished that, he went to make coffee for everyone and served them with a side of Bourbons. He Made little Rhia a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows with a side of party rings and sliced apple. After he had done all that, he retreated up to the information centre to do some more paperwork. 

Owen had spent his time playing snake at his desk while drinking coffee. It was an oddly quiet day today and apart from little Rhia, nothing had come through. There were no weevils and nothing to do any dissections on, so he just played computer games. 

Suzie was working on the glove on the far side of the hub. She was minding her own business and thinking up of different ways she could use it. She didn’t pay attention to the little girl drawing on the other side of the room. 

Tosh spent her time alternating between watching Rhia draw and writing a new program on the computer. The hub needed a better tracking and tracing system, so she was redoing it. Now and again, she looked over her shoulder to watch the small five-year-old create lines on her page. Tosh thought little Rhia was the cutest little girl she had ever met. Not that she had met many children because she was too busy with work, but that’s beside the point. 

Jack spent the whole four hours in his office with his feet on the desk, fast asleep. He hardly ever got to sleep at night for various reasons, so it wasn’t unusual for him to sleep at his desk in the day. He woke up for a few minutes around four so Ianto could give him coffee, but after he drank it, he fell back asleep again. He dreamt about space-time travel. More specifically, he dreamt of the time he was gallivanting off with the Doctor and Rose. His mind turned on suddenly when he remembered what Rhia had said earlier. What did she mean when she said the Doctor could change his face? He woke up a little and rubbed his face. He had obviously read as many articles about the Doctor as possible but he hadn’t read anything about it though it said something about a new man but... Jack was too tired to think about it. 

The clock struck five and everyone stopped what they were doing and packed up. Rhia gathered up her drawing stuff and placed them neatly on the nearest table. She went up to Jack’s office and knocked on the door. Jack called her in, so Rhia went inside. “Thank you, Jack.”

“What for?” He asked.

“For letting me stay.” She answered. She went to turn back, but she stopped. “By the way, can I have your autograph?” She asked.

At that moment, Ianto stepped in. “Keep quiet, Rhia. We don’t want to let it get to his head.”

Rhia sighed. “Ok. Can I get your autograph too? That way you can share whatever is going into his head.”

Ianto and Jack laughed, and Rhia held out a bit of paper to Jack. He sighed it and she gave it to Ianto. She smiled widely when he gave the paper back to her. “I can tick you two off my list. Then I can get the others to sign it tomorrow, and then I can get Gwen to sign it when she comes.”

“Why do you want to autographs, anyway?” Jack asked.

Rhia sighed. “Because if I’m not allowed to watch Doctor who anymore then I can do the next best thing and become friends with everyone.”

“Ok. We should go and unpack all of your things.” Ianto told her.

Rhia nodded. “Alright. Night Jack.” She called as she skipped out of the door. She went up to Tosh and hugged her. “Night Tosh, see you in the morning.”

Tosh bid Rhia and Ianto goodnight and went out of the door. Owen and Suzie had already gone.

The small girl went to pick up her drawings while Ianto went to check up on Lisa. He came back up ten minutes later and the two of them left the hub with the bags of Rhia’s things.

“Do you think Daleks what signatures?” Rhia asked him as they got into his car.

“They Don’t have hands,” Ianto told her. “But I’m sure if you ask nicely, they will exterminate the paper for you.”

Rhia nodded. “Probably not a good idea to go near them.”

They picked up a takeaway on the way to Ianto’s flat. Once they got there, the two of them ate Chinese while they sorted out all of Rhia’s new things. Ianto put up some fairy lights in her room since she didn’t like the dark. After watching the episode with vasta Narada, she had been terrified to sleep in the dark just in case. Before she got into the bed, she made Ianto check outside for weeping Angels or behind the curtain for any cyber mats. Once the room had been checked, Ianto read her a chapter of Harry potter which sent her to sleep. He left the door open slightly and went to make himself some coffee before going to his own room. He fell asleep after around an hour and didn’t dream at all. 


	2. Flat in Caerphilly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhia spends her first full week with Torchwood.  
> Time takes place between 24th August to the 4th September.

Ianto woke up suddenly with the sound of his alarm. He reached over and turned it off before burying his face in his pillows and dozing off for an extra five minutes. Every one at Torchwood assumed he was a morning person, but in reality, he was quite the opposite. He only turned up to the hub early because he had to look after Lisa. That and he needed time to wake up so he wouldn't be too grumpy in front of the others. That's why he usually drank three mugs of coffee before ten o'clock. At that moment, he forced himself to get out of bed and make breakfast for himself and the little girl who was probably still asleep in the next room.

Not long later, the door of the spare room opened and a pair of little feet could be heard padding along the floor. Ianto turned to see Rhia still half asleep and clinging on tight to her teddy. She sat down at the table and he gave her a plate of pancakes with chocolate spread and strawberries with a glass of orange juice. He sat down opposite her with his mug of coffee. "You said you had a sister yesterday." He stated just to start a conversation. He wasn't good at starting conversations at half six in the morning. 

Little Rhia nodded since she had her mouth full. "I have four sisters and three brothers. My favourite one is called Poppy. She's technically only half my sister, and she's seventeen, so she's allowed to watch Torchwood."

"That's a lot of siblings. I don't think I could handle having that many." Ianto told her. He thought back to when he was younger with his sister.

"Then you have Ben, who is eleven. He's also only half but a different half so he stays with his mummy." She told him. "Then Jordan is eight. He's a full brother, but he's always out playing Rugby."

Ianto sipped some coffee. "Nothing wrong with Rugby."

Rhia nodded. "Then Poppy got mummy into Torchwood and Doctor Who, so she named me after your sister. But I prefer Rhia rather than Rhiannon." She carried on eating her pancakes before telling him more. "Then you have the triplets. Rose, Martha and Donna. They're three."

"You said yesterday they travelled with the Doctor." He said.

Rhia nodded in confirmation. "Yes, at that point mummy started to get obsessed. Then I have a little brother called Ianto. He turned one on August 19th. He's my favourite brother." She stopped for a second. "He's not going to know who I am when he's older."

"I'm sure he'll be told stories of how brilliant his older sister is" Ianto reassured the little girl. "There's something odd going on here though."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Ianto shrugged. "It might be possible that you're the parallel version of my sister. "There were too many coincidences not to notice. He would have to speak with Jack later. "Anyway, if you're finished, then you should go and get dressed. I managed to wash some things yesterday for you. I'll be here if you need help with anything."

Rhia got up from the table and went to the bathroom where she washed her face and did what she needed to do before going back into her room and seeing what to wear. Her mummy said that she had a surprisingly good fashion sense and knew what colours went with what. She picked out some Black leggings along with a pale blue long-sleeved top and a denim pinafore dress. She added some white socks and got out her new trainers to put on later. She picked up her hairbrush and a few hair bobbles and carried them to Ianto, who had already got dressed into one of his suits. He brushed her long red hair and plated two quick French braids. They both managed to get out and ready by seven-fifteen. 

They got into the car and Ianto started driving them to the hub. Rhia still had a tight grip onto her teddy. 

"Do you take him everywhere?" Ianto asked her.

"Yep. Well apart from school, but they have a teddy Friday every two Fridays." She told him. "I called the other one the Teddy of Boe but I think I'll have to name this one differently."

"I assume it's another reference in your universe," Ianto said.

Rhia nodded. "Do you live in Cardiff?"

"No. It was too close to work, and I needed time to wake up, so I brought a flat in Caerphilly. Only a half an hour drive so I can get to the hub a little before eight. I only moved back into wales a few months ago." He told her.

The little girl looked out of the window. "Wales is pretty. I was born somewhere around here. Anglesey, I think. We had to move to Manchester though because Mummy didn't like wales anymore."

"Ei Cholled." He said out loud in Welsh. 

"Rwy'n gwybod." Rhia grinned. "I only speak a little of welsh. I told her that I would only move to England if she taught me to speak Welsh."

Ianto smiled. "Your pronunciation is good."

"Diolch." She said.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Ianto pulled up into the hub. The two of them sat there for a minute in silence. 

"When we get inside, I need you to stay in the information centre until I say it's ok to come down." He told her.

She nodded slowly. "Why?"

Ianto took a deep breath. "Because Jack lives in the hub and sometimes he doesn't see the need to... No clue how I'm supposed to explain this."

Rhia thought for a moment. "Is it because whatever Jack is doing down there is the reason why Torchwood is rated Fifteen?"

"Almost definitely." He replied instantly. "I also have something important to do that you can't see."

"Look after Lisa?" She asked.

Ianto sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yep," Rhia told him. 

They got out of the car and Ianto dropped the little girl off at the Infomation centre.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Ianto came to collect her ten minutes to nine. Myfanwy came down to say hello before lapping the Hub twice and going back up to her nest. Rhia said good morning to Jack in Welsh for no reason and went to help Ianto prepare the coffee mugs before the others came in. Owen came through the Cog door at two minutes past nine and went straight to the med bay. Five minutes later, they had a weevil alert, so Owen and Jack went out to get them. Suzie and Tosh came in together at seventeen minutes past nine and went to work. 

That Thursday was a busy one. They had three more Weevil alerts, a blowfish that tried to steal the crown jewels thinking they were kept in Cardiff and some rift activity. Some plant had come through, but it grew rapidly around the city, setting off some chemical that reacted weirdly with humans. They used an awful amount of Retcon that day and had to go overtime. Tosh also managed to set up a school for Rhia. It was sort of last-minute, but they so happened to have a place. It had good reviews and everything, and the uniform wasn't too hard to get. It was easy to get from there to the hub so it would be a quick drop off and pick up. 

When everything was fairly calm at around six, Ianto and Rhia went to get dinner for the rest of the tea. Rhia took this chance to run around and burn off all the energy she had produced throughout the day. After dinner, Rhia went just outside the Infomation centre to play for a while. No one was about and so long as she stayed away from the water, she was fine. Soon enough, she was worn out and fell asleep on Ianto's chair with her teddy. 

Ianto had to carry her to the car, and they managed to get home just after eleven. 

The next day was quieter and Jack decided that they should all take the day off so long as the rift didn't play up. Suzie and Jack stayed close to the hub, but the others took their chance and went somewhere further. Owen took Tosh out to Barry for a few hours. Not the best place in the world, but they both wanted a bit of new scenery. Ianto decided to take Rhia to see his sister. He hadn't been to see her and her family for a while, and he thought Rhia would probably want to get her signature for her paper. Ianto told Rhia to be careful with her teddy and not to let it out of her sight since some children around there didn't seem to understand the concept of treating toys nicely. He also told her that he had a niece and nephew. (Something that Rhia didn't know.)

"Mica is three and David is six nearly seven," Ianto told her. 

Rhia nodded. "Ok." She paused. "How old are you?"

Ianto smiled. "Twenty-three. Rhiannon is twenty-seven."

"She's only four years older than you. I'm only four years older than my little brother." She explained.

Ianto sighed. That's another similarity. "What year is your older sister born?" 

"2003." She answered.

"And your little sisters are three years old?" He asked. 

Rhia nodded. "Yep. I don't like three-year-olds. They cry a lot."

"What's wrong with crying. I'm sure everyone cries a lot." He pulled up onto Rhiannon's street.

"But that sort of crying is alright, but crying just because they don't get what they want all the time is annoying." She said.

Ianto had to agree with her on that. He stopped the car right outside 13 Rupert Brooke Drive and the two of them stepped out and walked to the door. Ianto rang the bell and the two of them waited around half a minute before the door opened and there stood Ianto's sister.

"So you finally decided to tell us you're still alive." She pulled him into a hug. "What have you been doing the past year then? I didn't even know you came back to Wales."

"It's complicated." He told her. "After Canary Wharf got attacked, I had to move back. The company has a branch in Cardiff." 

Rhiannon stepped back and let the two of them in. "Who's this, then?" She indicated to Rhia.

Rhia, being the polite little girl she is, stuck out her hand. "I'm Rhia."

Rhiannon shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Rhia." She called down her own two children and introduced them all to each other. Mica then wanted to show her her toy collection and David followed.

Ianto and his sister went into the kitchen to have a proper conversation. She asked him why he had a five-year-old and he told her that someone had left her at their workplace and they decided to take her in and look after her. Not so far from the truth. 

Meanwhile, upstairs Mica had got every toy out from under her bed so that they could be friends with Rhia's teddy. David said that they were being bored, but he stuck around to see what they were doing. It wasn't every day they got to meet someone their age from a different area. Rhia told them that at the moment she lived in Caerphilly, but she could live in other places too if she wanted. She didn't know where Tosh lived, so she couldn't tell them. About an hour and a half later, Rhiannon called them down for lunch and the three little ones were sitting on the sofa, eating ham sandwiches and watching cartoons on the television. Ianto and his big sister were still talking in the kitchen. Rhiannon had commented that Rhia looked a lot like her when she was little and wondered if she was related to them in any way. If you put Rhia and Mica together, you would think they were sisters. The only difference being that Rhia had deep red hair instead of brown.

Once they had finished lunch, Ianto and Rhiannon decided to take them to the park to let off some steam. Rhiannon watched as Ianto played with them, and she smugly grinned. Ianto came up to her.

"I know that look." He told her. "What are you plotting?"

"Nothing." The look he gave her obviously meant that he didn't believe a word she was saying. "You'd make a great dad."

He snorted. "I doubt it."

She rolled her eyes. "Ianto, just because our dad wasn't the best doesn't mean you'll be like him." He didn't say anything and just watched his niece and nephew play with Rhia. "If she doesn't belong to anyone, then you could take her in permanently."

"Maybe. Doesn't mean that I will though." He said. "The entire team is looking after her, but I just seem to be the one that's doing the most."

Rhiannon smiled. "You're not complaining though."

"No, I'm not." He confessed. "We only found her a few days ago."

Rhiannon nodded. "Well, I'm going to give you some advice. Don't let go of what you think is right, ok."

"Right. Ok." He looked down at his feet and back up at his sister. "I'll consider that. We need to go now."

"Alright." She pulled him into another hug. "Don't be a stranger." 

Ianto went up to the gates of the park and went inside to tell Rhia they were going. Rhia said goodbye to Mica and David and then to Rhiannon, who told them to come around soon. They got into Ianto's car and left Newport to start on their way back to the hub. Rhia fell asleep as soon as they left Newport and dreamt about Daleks Cybermen.

The rest of the day went quickly and soon enough, Ianto and Rhia went back home to Caerphilly where they both had dinner and Rhia got ready for bed. Ianto read to her again and kissed her lightly on her head before leaving her room and turning on the TV.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Over the weekend, the rift had left them a few things to deal with. Tosh had ordered Rhia's school uniform and asked if she wanted to stay around hers for a bit, but the little girl declined and said she'd rather stay at Ianto's. On Sunday, everyone but Owen was busy, so he took her out for some Ice-cream seeing as it was weirdly warm for Cardiff. They had a great time, and Rhia had no idea why everyone didn't like him back in her own universe, but she didn't tell him that. Everyone in Rhia's book actually just means Poppy and her mummy. After that, Rhia and Jack talked about the Doctor in his office, just to compare notes. She tried her best not to spoil anything, but she couldn't help talking a bit about the Thirteenth Doctor. She spent a little of time with Suzie as well, but they didn't say anything to each other. Suzie just worked on the glove and Rhia watched her.

On Monday, Rhia found out she started her new school in just a week. The little girl was excited but a bit nervous. She would be going up into year 1 and her teacher was going to be called Mrs Write. 

On Tuesday, she had to stay in the hub all day and keep as quiet as possible since the team was busy with some end of the world stuff.

The next day, she saw a newspaper with a picture of the new Mayor.

"Jack!" She called out. 

Jack poked his head from behind his office door. "Yes?" He called back.

"Isn't she a Slitheen?" She asked.

Jack came down the stairs and looked at the photo. "That time already, is it?"

"Final days of Mortality." She said. No one else was in the hub, so she could say it out loud.

"I don't know whether Mortality is a good thing or a bad thing." He said.

Rhia shrugged. "I've been here for a week."

"Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked.

The little girl bit down the newspaper and said. "I love it here and I would stay here forever and ever but I miss Mummy and Daddy and Poppy and Ben and Jordan and Rose and Martha and Donna and little baby Ianto."

"They'll be ok, you know." He told her. They sat down on the sofa. "I miss my family and I can't see them again."

Rhia looked up to him. "Your little brother Gray."

Jack nodded. "Yes. He was my best friend. As well as my other friends on Boeshane. All gone now."

"Doctor Who and Torchwood have a pattern. Every single character is the same because they've all lost a bunch of people." She told him.

Jack smiled sadly. "I want to know who the writer is."

"Someone who knows how to make people cry." She said. "I mean, The Doctor's lost everyone. Every single companion ever has lost someone. Owen has lost Katie and... Wait, not yet. Um... Tosh has lost people. Ianto has lost people. Everyone he's ever known in Evil Torchwood." Jack snorted. "Ianto's still hurting though, Jack. You have to help him. Every one is Hurting."

Jack looked to the floor. "I never knew."

"Ianto is the parallel version of my little brother Jack, and if my little brother were hurting, then I would want someone to be there and give him hugs because I wouldn't be able to." She rested her head on his arm. "You've got to help them before it's too late. If you help them, then they can help you."

"How are you so wise?" Jack asked. 

Rhia shrugged. "I don't know." She stood up and went to go away. "Before this universe gets more dramatic than it always does, I'm going to get biscuits."

Jack stayed on the sofa and rethought the words he had just been given. She knows more than she can say. He knew it was a riddle, and it didn't take long for him to solve it. The next few years are going to be hell. Great.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Over the next few days, Jack did what Rhia told him to do. Make sure everyone was ok. Even if they said they were, he made sure they knew he would be there. He noticed them relax a bit more to know they weren't alone. He watched them work hour after hour and he was proud of them. He told them he was proud of them too, so they would know rather than having to guess. The five of them made sure Rhia was ready for school on Monday. Ianto was going to drop her off, and Owen was going to pick her up. 

It was Sunday night and Ianto and Rhia were in their flat in Caerphilly, watching some Tom and Jerry.

"Have you got everything ready for tomorrow?" Ianto asked her.

"Yep," Rhia answered.

Ianto nodded. "That's good then." He paused. "Go and get ready for bed then. I'll be there in a few minutes to read you a chapter."

Rhia did as she was told, and Ianto was there not long later with the book. He read a chapter like he said he would and kissed her on her head like he had been doing for a while.

He went back into the living room and checked his phone. There was a message. It was only Jack asking is he was alright and to have a good night. He smiled. Rhia must have said something to him.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Rhia's first day of school was wild.

She woke up at the same time Ianto did like she did every day and they had breakfast. She then put on her new school uniform and Ianto braided her hair into two Dutch braids. They got into the car and went to the hub since they were early. At half eight, Ianto took her to the school and waited with her in the office so they could be shown around before she started properly. It didn't take long since it's not a bit school and before Ianto left, Rhia threw her arms around him. 

"Have a good day ok. I'll see you later." He hugged her back, and she went into her new class with the teacher. Ianto hoped she would fit in straight away. He knew what it was like to be alone on the first day. It wasn't pleasant. 

He went back to his car, but he didn't go back to the hub straight away. He thought about what it would've been like not to have Rhiannon about. He shuddered at the thought. He felt bad about Rhia's little brother not having a sister like her around. At least he had other siblings. Rhia talked about her little brother every day to him. She must miss him a lot. Ianto drove back to the hub. His next project was to try to see if he could at least let Rhia say goodbye to her family.

Rhia enjoyed her first day. She was introduced to the class and was told to sit next to someone called Jasmine. 

It was break time and Rhia went outside. She sat on a bench and watched the other children play. She hadn't thought about needing to make new friends because she had a lot back in her own universe. Someone sat next to her, and she smiled. She recognised that face.

"Is it ok if I sit here?" Asked the other person.

"Yes, it's fine. She held out her hand. "I'm Rhia Jones. Year one."

He shook her hand. "Steven Carter, Year two."

"You're one of the oldest, then?" She asked.

Steven nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to be seven in October."

She took out her signature paper and held it up to him. "Would it be ok if you sign this?" She asked.

"Why, what's it for?" He questioned. He looked at the paper. "Wait, a minute. That's my uncle Jack's signature. You know Uncle Jack?"

She nodded. "Yes, I know him. He works with Ianto. I was collecting signatures."

Steven got a pen out of his bag and signed it. "Does Ianto look after you?"

"Mmhmm." She neatly put the paperback in her bag.

He put his pen away. "Do you know what job they do. I tried to ask my mum if she knew, but she wouldn't tell me."

"I'm not allowed to tell you." She said. "It's a secret. I wasn't supposed to find out, but I did."

Steven leant back on the bench. "Can you tell me what it's like?"

"Magical, crazy and scary at the same time. Ianto said that their job was dangerous, so I had to do exactly what they told me to do." Rhia explained.

Both of them were silent for a few moments before steven piped up, "Do you want to be friends?"

"Yes." She agreed. "But I still can't tell you what they do." Rhia internally laughed. She had now made friends with Mica, David and Steven. She knew Steven would have to die in the future, but that was in the future. Maybe he didn't need to die. After all, this was an alternative universe and anything could happen. At that moment the bell rang. 

The rest of the school day went pretty fast. She played with Steven at lunch, and then it was time for Owen to pick her up. He asked how the day went and she told him everything. Apart from the fact that Steven was Jack's Grandson, but that was a story for another time. She told Jack that she had met Steven though, and she told him what she had told Steven. 

Ianto had been researching multidimensional space travel but had found very little. He didn't tell Rhia what he was doing, just in case he couldn't do it, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her hopes up. 

At the end of the day, they had a small party to celebrate Rhia's first day at school in a strange universe and they all went to sleep, quite content. That was until the rift decided to play up at three in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time is frustrating. I didn't realise Boomtown was set in around September 2006. I always thought it would be earlier around late 2005 but then I remembered they skipped a year.  
> Also technically it says the Battel of Canary Wharf was in 2007 but Ianto joined Torchwood Cardiff in 2006.  
> I also changed the school that Steven went to because the building looked intimidating and its too much out of the way for Ianto to drop her off. Also that Jasmine isn't fairy Jasmine.  
> By the way, Rhia loves her little brother a lot so that's why she's attached herself to Ianto.  
> Thanks for reading.


	3. Plant

Ianto woke up to the sound of his phone beeping. He reached over to sort it out and at the same time; he looked at his Clock. He swore under his breath and hastily got dressed in his suit, but he put boots on just in case. Without trying to wake Rhia, he collected all her school things and took them out to the car before going back to get her. Ianto didn't wake her. He wrapped her in a fluffy blanket and carried her to the car, attempting to strap her in. The roads were dead so he could slightly go over the speed limit, but not too much since he had Rhia in the car. He arrived at the hub in record time and apart from Jack; he was the only one there. He gently lay Rhia down on the sofa and went straight to work by getting the Coffee prepared. Tosh, Owen and Suzie came through the door not long later and went to their stations. Ianto didn't know what they were called in for, but it seemed the others knew, so he didn't ask. Obviously, he was only called in to give the other's drinks and sort out any paperwork.

For the next few hours, Jack, Owen and Suzie were in and out of the hub doing whatever it was they were doing. Tosh was at her computer doing who knows what. Ianto took his chance and went down to the bottom floor to check on Lisa. She was getting worse daily, and he knew it, but he wasn't going to give up on her. Soon enough, it was time to wake little Rhia up and get her ready for school. He quickly made some toast with jam and a few strawberries for her and put it on the table along with a glass of Ribena.

Rhia woke up to the sound of her name being called. She opened her eyes and saw she was in the hub. "Why are we here?" She asked.

Ianto shrugged. "No clue. The rift is playing up again. Probably just a few items." He held out his hand and Rhia took it so he led her to where her breakfast was. At that moment, Jack walked in, holding an odd-looking plant. "We had to get up at three in the morning for that?" He asked.

Jack looked up at him. "It could've been something dangerous. Thought it would make a nice house plant." He put it on Owen's desk. "Brighten up the place a bit."

Owen took it off. "My desk is bad enough without people littering it." He put it next to Rhia. Jack, Owen and Ianto spent the next five minutes bickering, and the girls watched on in amusement. What nobody noticed was that something from the plant dripped into Rhia's drink. It didn't make a sound, nor did it create ripples in the liquid. The little girl took the last bite of her toast and finished it off with her juice. She got up from the table and went to get ready for school. Just like she did every day, she got Ianto to do her hair for her. Today, he dutch plated the top bits but tied them off with a hair bobble so the rest of her hair was put into bunches. Jack looked on in amazement as he watched Ianto's hands do the braids. The speed and the talent that the other man was showing was mesmerising.

When Ianto had finished, he placed a small kiss on her head and told her to draw something for half an hour before they had to go to school. She drew a picture of Ianto and Jack. It was set in Jack's office and Ianto was holding out a mug of coffee. Jack was sitting at his desk and smiling widely. She also scribbled a little heart between the two of them and smiled softly at what she had drawn.

Ianto said they had to go, so she hugged the team each. She held Ianto's hand, and they both walked to the car. Ianto drove the ten-minute drive to Rhia's school. They arrived with a bit of time to spare, so they waited in the car for a bit. Rhia had the sudden urge to itch her arm, but the itch didn't go away. She didn't tell Ianto though, since it was only an itch.

A few minutes later, one of the bells rang (To show the school was open.) Rhia said goodbye to Ianto before he told her to have a good day, and she stepped out of the car and through the school gates. Ianto waited until she was inside the building before driving back to his flat to catch up on sleep like Jack had told him too earlier.

Rhia went into class and sat next to Jasmine again. The teacher wasn't there yet, so they talked about unicorns and things like that. The teacher came in not long later and took the register. Rhia learnt that she came after Liam Jackson and before Annabel Kady.

The morning went fairly well. The teacher taught them their three times tables and how to spell simple words and put them in a sentence. She also taught them a few words in Welsh that Rhia and a few others already knew. When it was break time, Rhia went to find Steven. She found him at the bench they were at yesterday. They started off by talking about Jack since he was what they had most in common. Her arm started itching again, so she took off her cardigan and steven looked at her arm in shock. She looked down at her own arm. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Steven asked.

Rhia sighed. "Itchy." She replied back.

"Do you want me to tell a teacher?" Steven offered.

The little girl shook her head. "No, it'll be alright. Probably just an allergic reaction."

"But my mum said they could be dangerous. You need to go to the hospital." He exclaimed.

Rhia had to think very hard. She had done nothing new, and she hadn't touched anything she should've. Oh. The alien plant. "The hospital wouldn't know what it was."

"Do you know what caused it?" Steven asked.

Rhia nodded. "Yep. I can't tell you though."

"Something to do with uncle Jack's job." He stated. "You should still get Mrs Ryne in the office to call someone, though."

Rhia shrugged. "It'll be fine, Steven. I can tell whoever picks me up when it's home time."

Steven nodded, unsurely. "Alright, but you have to promise to tell a teacher if the itching gets worse."

Rhia saluted. "Yes, sir." The two of them laughed. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Her friend shook his head. "No. I only have my mum. My Grandma is poorly, so we see her every Sunday and we don't see Uncle Jack that much. Do you?"

"Yep," Rhia said. "I have four sisters and three brothers, but I can't see them anymore. Sorry that your Grandma is poorly. Make sure you spend a lot of time with her." She told him.

"I will." He said. "She wanted me to call her the Italian way of saying Grandma and my Tad tried to get me to do it in Welsh. I can't get the hang of Welsh."

"Sometimes Welsh can be hard." She agreed. "But once you get through the pronunciations, it can be quite easy."

At that moment, the bell went. Steven told her that on Tuesdays, they had to go to assembly. Rhia didn't like assembly. She never had and she never will.

After assembly, she went back to class with the others. They had a general knowledge test on history. For Rhia, it was a general knowledge test on Doctor who. The questions were simple, like who was the queen and who was the first person in space (She was tempted to put Donna Noble since that was technically the right answer). She got stuck on question 21. **'Who is the current prime minister?'** She didn't know if Harriet Jones was still there or if the master was there yet. No. Harriet Jones was still in. She put that answer down.

Rhia's arm seemed to get more Itchy. She noticed her hand was starting to get the rash as well. It reminded her of the Raxweed in Sarah-Jane.

She started to get a little more sleepy as well. Her eyelids felt like lead and the room felt like an oven. She asked if she could go to the bathroom and the teacher let her. No one else was in there, so she locked the door. She took off her cardigan and School shirt and saw her entire body was filled with this rash. It was a strange rash. It was sort of red with a dash of green and black in it, so it looked like a massive bruise. Maybe it was time to call Torchwood. She put her clothes back on and went to the office. She asked Mrs Ryne to call Torchwood. She wasn't allowed to refuse. Jack gave the school strict orders to call if Rhia told them too. Mrs Ryne gave her the phone and the little girl waited until someone picked up.

"Rhia, is that you?" Jack's voice said into the phone.

"Yes." The little girl said. The room was getting dizzy, so she sat on the floor. Mrs Ryne had gone out of the room to give her privacy so she didn't see. "You have to get rid of the plant, Jack." She told him.

"Why?" He asked. "What's the matter?"

"Don't know." She answered. Her mind was getting clogged up. She started seeing weird shapes. "Jack. 'm need Owen."

Jacks voice mumbled somewhere far away. Probably talking to someone in the hub. "Ok. I'm sending Owen over. Rhia, what's the matter?" He sounded urgent.

"I want my mummy, Jack." She sounded slightly hysterical.

"Rhia. Tell me what's wrong." His voice was more demanding.

Rhia closed her eyes for a second, and she didn't want to open them again. "Steven knows."

Jack sighed. "I'm coming over as well. Stay on the phone and whatever you do, don't fall asleep." A minute went by. "Where are you anyway?"

"School." She replied.

"No. Which room?" He asked again.

"Office," Rhia mumbled.

A few minutes went by and the office door banged open. Rhia could only just make out that it was Owen.

Owen checked her pulse and made sure she didn't have a concussion. He also took her temperature and swore under his breath. 38.4. Not good. The door opened and Owen looked to see Jack walked in.

"Steven said something about an allergic reaction."

Owen nodded and picked Rhia up. "We need to get her to the hospital."

They went into the SUV. Jack drove and Owen stayed with Rhia in the back. Somewhere between getting out of the school and into the car, Rhia blacked out. Thankfully, the nearest Hospital was only a few minutes away.

Owen carried her through AnE while Jack flashed his Torchwood card to everywhere. A doctor took them into an empty room, and Owen demanded certain medications and equipment. Jacks phone rang, so he left the room the answer it. It was only Ianto. He had only just woken up from that morning and had heard that Jack and Owen had to help Rhia.

Rhia was now hooked onto an IV. She had something to keep her temperature down and something to hopefully, get rid of her rash.

A few hours later, Rhia's fever stabled, and the Rash was slowly disappearing. Jack had got Tosh to test the plant in any way she could. Owen and Jack didn't leave the hospital for anything. They didn't know what in the plant Rhia was allergic to or how she got it into her system. Tosh rang Jack up just before seven.

"Jack. I've looked at the CCTV and it looks like Rhia consumed it." Tosh said.

"And how did she consume it exactly?" He asked.

There were around five seconds before Tosh replied. "Ianto found something in the archives about the plant. It's not actually alien. It was a water-based plant from ancient Egypt. It can sense when it's near sugar, and it drops some of its water into the nearest sauce. Back then it was lethal to humans. It killed so many people that they had to burn every single bit of it."

Owen swore loudly. "It's my fault, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "It's not Owen. I'm the one that brought it into the hub."

Ianto came through the door. "Is she alright?" He asked.

Owen nodded. "She should be ok."

"I'll stay with her," Ianto said. "You two should get some rest."

Jack nodded. "Yes, Owen. You should go. I'll keep Ianto company.

Owen didn't say anything and left. Ianto sat on one of the chairs and Jack sat on the other one.

"Jack, it's fine. I'll stay with her." The younger man didn't want to be alone with Jack. He made him feel odd, but in a good way. He wouldn't let it happen though. He wouldn't betray Lisa.

"I'm staying Ianto, so that's that," Jack said. The two of them didn't say anything else that night.


	4. Between the walls of the universe

Rhia woke up and found herself in the hospital. She couldn’t remember getting there or anything from yesterday. The last thing she remembered was taking the general knowledge test and going to the bathroom, but apart from that, everything was fuzzy. 

She looked to the other side of the room and saw Ianto and Jack fast asleep. Ianto’s head was on Jack’s shoulder and Jack had his arm around Ianto. Rhia found this immensely funny and giggled. Owen walked into the room and rolled his eyes when he saw the two men fast asleep. He went up to Rhia and took her temperature. 

“Much better.” He said. He checked to make sure the rash had gone, and it had. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright thank you, Owen.” She smiled at him. “When can I go home?”

Owen did some more medical things. “As soon as these two wake up if you want. Though you’re not going to school until tomorrow.”

“Ok.” Rhia leant back on the bed. “It was only my second day of school in this universe as well.”

Owen grinned. “Only you could manage to get poisoned by a plant on your second day of school.” He took out his camera phone and snapped a quick picture of Jack and Ianto. 

“Why’d you do that?” Rhia asked.

Owen was still grinning. “Just in case I need to do something.”

Rhia thought about for a second. “You know Ianto could just put you on decaf.”

“Good point.” He pocketed his phone and both of the sleeping men woke up. “You two are up. Good. Now we can all get out of here.”

Neither Jack nor Ianto said anything about sleeping that close together. Rhia took the blankets off herself and tried to stand up, but she was a little wobbly. Ianto went over to her to make sure she didn’t topple over. “Careful, you’ve just recovered from something terrible. No point overdoing it.”

The four of them went to the car park. Owen and Jack headed to the SUV while the other two went to Ianto’s car. Ianto drove Rhia to his sister’s since he had to be at the hub with the others. 

Over the next few hours, Rhia and Mica stayed in the living room and watched some DVDs. Rhia noticed that some films were different in this universe. For one thing, when they watched Harry Potter and the goblet of fire, another actor was playing Barty Crouch Jr. Also, the ratings were different because, in her universe, she wasn’t allowed to watch that Harry Potter until she was twelve, but in this universe, it was a PG. 

All of these little differences fascinated her, and she was looking forward to looking out for more.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Over the next month, Ianto had been busy with trying to get contact with the other universe. He had asked the others to help him and they worked on it while Rhia went to school or when she was around Rhiannon’s or Steven’s.

Sometime around mid-October, Tosh had found the solution. She raced off to find Ianto, who was down in the Archives. “Ianto, I’ve got it.”

Ianto gently put down the files he was holding and went around the corner of a shelf. “What?”

“I’ve found a way Rhia can say goodbye to her family. Unfortunately, it’s not permanent and it would only last fifteen minutes. Also, she wouldn’t be able to cross into that universe because it could put both universes in danger of collapse.” Tosh went on.

Ianto nodded. “It’s going to have to do.” He hugged her. “It’s better than nothing.”

The two of them went upstairs to tell the others about what Tosh had done. In the end, Jack decided to take Rhia out of school early for the day, just in case Tosh’s connection went. 

Rhia entered the hub. “What are we doing Ianto?” She was confused.

Ianto came down to her level. “We’ve found a way you can see your family again. It can only be for a few minutes, but that should be enough time to tell them you’re alright.”

Rhia sighed. “OK.” She paused. “Can I see them now?” She asked.

“Yes,” Ianto said. “But you have to know that they could react oddly. I’ll try to explain as much as possible to them.”

Tosh came over to them with a round wooden box with pattens. “Both of you have to hold on to this. Ianto will press the button when you’re ready.” Ianto took the box.

“Is this the last time I’ll see them again?” Rhia questioned. 

Tosh and Ianto looked at each other. “I don’t know,” Ianto told her truly. 

Rhia bit her lip. “It’s ok. I’m part of Torchwood now. I have to learn to live with these things.”

Tosh stepped forward. “You shouldn’t have to.”

“None of us should Tosh,” Rhia said. “It’s just one of those things.” She looked at Ianto. “I’m ready.” She grabbed onto Ianto’s hand and he pressed the button on the box. One second they were standing in the hub and the next, they were in a living room. Rhia’s living room. The television was on and it was playing Torchwood. More specifically, when the hub blew up. “Poppy, turn it off!”

A young girl sitting on the sofa turned to look at them with wide eyes. She quickly turned the TV off and called her mother in. She turned around to look at them again. “Where the hell have you been, Rhia Jones?” Rhia looked up at Ianto and Poppy did the same. “Oh my God. Ianto Jones is standing in the living room with my little sister.”.

There wasn’t much time, so he spoke. “Yes, I’m Ianto Jones. From a different universe where Torchwood is real.”

“But how?” Poppy asked. 

Ianto explained everything as quickly as possible, including the fact they couldn’t stay long. 

Rhia’s mother came up closer and handed her a bag. “Christmas presents.” She had teary eyes. “You be careful alright.”

Rhia nodded. “I will. I’ve already made friends with Mica, David and Steven.”

Her mother and Poppy laughed. “I wouldn’t expect anything different.” Poppy said.

Rhia clung onto the bag tightly. She quickly hugged her mum and sister. “Where’s baby Ianto?” She asked.

“With your Grandparents at the moment.” Her mum said. “He misses you.”

The little girl nodded. “Tell him that I miss him too. I’ll miss all of you as well and I love you.”

“I love you too.” Her mum said. She turned to Ianto. “Look after her. Your world is dangerous, but I trust you and the rest of Torchwood to look after her.”

While she was talking to Ianto, Rhia was whispering into Poppy’s ear. “I’ll try to save them.” 

Poppy hugged her. “Look after your self.”

The box in Ianto’s hand beeped. “Rhia, we have to go now.” He took her hand. “Are you ready?”

Rhia nodded. “Yes. Bye mummy. Bye Poppy.” The room flashed and before they knew it, they were back in the hub. Rhia crouched to the floor and held on tight to the bag.

Ianto gave Tosh the box back and wrapped his arms around the little girl who had started crying. “It’s ok.” Ianto soothed. “You were very brave. It’ll be alright.”

The others looked on. They knew what she was feeling, and that she was right. None of them should have needed to feel like this in the first place. When Rhia had calmed down a bit, she took the presents out of the bag and handed them to Ianto. He knew she wanted them to be kept for Christmas, so he went to put them in his car.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

It was Rhia’s last day at school before October half term. They had a non-school uniform day and Rhia was going to Steven’s for tea after school since none of the team could pick her up before six. It was ok with Alice. She liked Rhia because she was as polite as she had brought Steven up with. What she didn’t know was that Rhia knew Jack and was involved with aliens.

Steven went up to Rhia at lunchtime at the bench they always sat at. “We’re having fish fingers for dinner tonight.” He told her as he sat down.

Rhia grinned. “That’s good. I love fish fingers. Especially with custard.”

He looked at his friend with the look he always gave her when she said something odd. “Is that another thing?”

“Yep.” They both laughed. “But I do love fish fingers. Your mummy is the best at making them.”

“Even better than Ianto?” He asked.

Rhia shrugged. “Ianto can’t have fish. Something happened a few months ago and now he can’t look at a fish without feeling poorly.”

“That’s not good,” Steven said. Rhia agreed with him, and they spent the rest of the lunch talking about random things that would make no sense to anyone else. 

When it was home time, Alice picked Steven and Rhia up and drove them back. Rhia hanged her coat up and placed her shoes on the rack before going up to Stevens room. They immediately went to his dressing up box and thought about what to play. Rhia thought they should be time and space travellers and Steven thought that was a brilliant idea so they dressed up and ran around the house, pretending they were on different planets and meeting old famous people in the 1800s. Steven had a book about earth throughout history and it was full of pictures so they could look like the people at that time. A few hours later, it was almost time for dinner, so Rhia helped Steven tidy up.

Rhia enjoyed her fish fingers and Jacket potato and told Alice it was the yummiest thing ever. 

At about half six, Tosh knocked on the door and took Rhia back to the hub. Ianto came back up from the archives and she ran to hug him. “What have you been doing?” She asked him.

He thought through the answer. “We’ve just been trying out the glove.”

Rhia smiled. “What’s the date?”

“19th October 2006. Why?” He asked.

She started to walk up to the kitchen. “The 22nd.” She called down. “That’s when we have to be ready.”

Ianto sighed. “In other words, that’s when the timeline starts in the TV show that you tell us you haven’t watched.”

Rhia looked down at him and grinned cheekily. “Maybe. Also, I’ve watched a few episodes, and no one told me I couldn’t read the Wikipedia pages.”

Ianto shrugged. “Fair enough. But don’t go around spoiling anything or changing time events.”

“Me just being here is changing events, Ianto.” She said. “And only I will know what’s different.” She went on her way to the kitchen.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Rhia woke up on Monday morning with a grin on her face. Last night the team had gone out to try out the glove, and it was pouring with rain. Today is the day they meet Gwen Cooper. She got out of her bed and saw Ianto in the living room drinking coffee. “Today’s the day, Ianto.” 

He looked over to her. “You’re way too hyper for seven in the morning.”

She rolled her eyes. “Today is a big moment in Torchwood. This is the day where everything changes.” She realised what she said and giggled.

Ianto stood up. “I’m not giving you sugar today.”

Rhia sighed half-heartedly. “Fine. It’s not going to stop me from making references though.”

After breakfast, Ianto dropped Rhia off at his sister’s since there was a weevil alert. She played with Mica and David until it was nearly four in the afternoon. He picked her up again and took her to the hub. She ran down the corridor and down the stairs (She had too much energy to go down the lift) and went through the door. The others grinned when they saw how hyper she was, and Jack came down from his office to get her to calm down. 

It only took an hour for that to happen, and by that point, Owen went to order Pizza. Rhia saw Gwen on the CCTV footage Tosh was looking at and sighed. This was it. She went around the back because she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face.


	5. The start of the series

Rhia stayed in the other room when Gwen came in carrying two big boxes of pizza and one small one. She waited until Jack took her to see Janet before she went out and walked towards the Pizza. She opened the small box and sat down on the sofa with it.

Owen spun his chair around and looked at the pizza in slight disgust. "Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza."

Tosh gave Owen a look. "We're not having this conversation again, Owen."

"I'm sure you remember what happened after," Suzie said from the other side of the room.

Rhia laughed and took a bite of the pizza. Ianto came through with a pile of papers. "What happened to eating your food at the table?" He asked.

The little girl just shrugged and ate more Pizza. Ianto sighed and grabbed plates for the others and gave the equal slices.

Jack and Gwen came back up not long later and introduced everyone. "... And this is Rhia Jones. Torchwoods sweet little girl. She keeps us on our toes." He went up to her and ruffled her hair. "Alright, everyone. Go and do some things and be here at the usual time." 

Rhia threw her arm around him. "See you tomorrow, Jack." She pulled away. "Bye, Gwen." She ran back to her Pizza while everyone else packed up.

Ianto and Rhia stayed behind for an extra thirty minutes so she could finish her dinner while he cleaned up the other plates and mugs that had been used for coffee. After everything had been finished, Ianto drove the tired little girl home, and she fell asleep almost instantaneously.

The next morning, Rhia woke up before Ianto did and tried to make toast. She managed to slightly overdo the toast a bit and butter went everywhere, but it was edible. She went into Ianto's room and put the toast on his bedside table. "Ianto!" She whispered loudly. "I made toast!"

Ianto opened one of his eyes and threw the blankets over his head. It was too cold and early to get up. "Go back to bed. It's too early." He told her. Rhia sighed. "But thank you for the toast."

Even though Ianto couldn't see it, she was grinning proudly. She went out of his room again and shut the door before going back to her room and looking out of the window. It was still dark, but there was a street light on the other side of the street so she could see everything. Not that there was anything to see apart from the occasional car coming past.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Rhia spent the day at Rhiannon's. They were going to the cinema to see some cartoon thing that Rhia had never heard of. She didn't mind though since she liked being around Mica and David. Rhia called them her cousins even though they weren't really, and she called Rhiannon Aunt. It looked like she had her place in Jones family and nobody minded.

In the end, Rhia enjoyed the cartoon film they saw. Rhiannon had brought them popcorn and lemonade, and they all had fun.

David was trying to be as loud as possible without getting told off, and Mica couldn't keep still (What else would you expect. She's three.)

When the film was finished, Rhiannon took them back home where they played in the living room and had a small lunch before crashing. The three of them were exhausted and had a nap on the living room floor. Rhiannon knew that the day had been a success. Her plan was always to get the children to be busy before lunch and by the afternoon, they'll be too tired to do anything.

Ianto knocked on the door of his sister's house and waited for it to be opened. He only had to wait a few seconds before Rhiannon let him in and told him to be quiet since the little ones were fast asleep. Ianto grinned when he saw them.

"I don't know what you did Rhi, but is defiantly worked." He said quietly.

Rhiannon smirked. "It all comes in the package of parenthood." She put the kettle on. "How are you doing, anyway?"

Ianto lent against the table. "Everything's fine. The Jobs good and little Rhia keeps us on our toes."

"Us?" She raised an eyebrow.

Ianto bit his lip. "The rest of the team. There's only five of us at the moment."

She inspected his face in case there was something more to what he was saying. "What is your job exactly?"

He sighed. "You know I can't tell you that Rhi."

"I know." She told him. "

Ianto looked at his watch. "I'm going to have to go in a minute."

Rhiannon went over to the sleeping children and carefully woke Rhia up.

Rhia opened her eyes and sat up. "How did I fall asleep?" She saw Ianto standing by the table. "Is it time to go to go home?"

Ianto nodded and took her hand. "Work is finished for today. Unless we get called in."

Rhia and Ianto said goodbye to Rhiannon and went back to the flat in Caerphilly. Ianto went to do some online work while Rhia sat on the living room floor and draw a picture. She thought carefully about what had been happening for the past few months and how much of a coincidence things had been. There had to be a reason why she got taken by the rift and landed right in the middle of the hub. Rhia was way more intelligent than anyone else her age, so maybe she had to work on something else that no one else could do. It didn't come to her at that moment though, but she knew it would when it needed to be. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

The next morning, Rhia and Ianto went to the hub and found they had another member but lost Suzie. 

On Gwen's first job out, she let out an alien gas. When the others were watching Gwen and Carys make out on the screen, Rhia snuck behind them and secretly watched. "What are they doing?" She piped up. It made the others jump.

Tosh looked at her. "Um. They're kissing."

"Is kissing good?" Rhia asked.

"Depends on the person," Owen answered.

The little girl waited a second. "Can I do it?"

"NO!" The four of them said immediately.

"Maybe when you're older," Jack added.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

A few weeks went by and Rhia continued going to school with Steven. They always talked about Aliens and planets, though Steven didn't know Rhia had actually seen aliens. She worked hard in lessons and even moved up a year when she found the work too easy. She made more friends in the Class and got invited to a birthday party in that short time.

She often spent a few hours after school with David and Mica, where they played all sorts of things. They would tell each other secrets (Obviously Torchwood stayed secret) and Rhia knew she could trust her cousins with anything.

When she spent time at the hub, she was mostly with Gwen and Tosh, and they talked about all sorts of alien things. Sometimes she went up to Myfanwy's nest and told her stories about what was going to happen.

One night, they were playing basketball in the hub and Ianto was doing some last-minute cleaning. She knew which episode this was. It was one of the one's she had watched all the way through. She ran to where Ianto was and pulled him to a corner. "You have to tell Jack about Lisa."

"I can't. I've got a Doctor coming in." He told her.

"I know Ianto, but you have to tell Jack now before it's too late." She persisted.

He put down some files he was holding. "If I told him, then who knows what he'd do to her."

"It would be better than the outcome in the episode was." She crossed her arms.

Ianto looked at her. "You're changing time. You know you can't do that."

"I'm changing time just by being here." She pointed to where the others were playing. "Now tell him before everything goes bad."

He contemplated it for a second. "You won't take no for an answer, will you?"

Rhia shook her head. Ianto sighed and went over to Jack. 

Jack turned his head when he noticed Ianto standing there. "Is everything alright Ianto?"

Ianto bit his lip. "Can we speak in private sir?"

Jacks eyes had a flash of worry in them. "Yes. What's wrong?"

They went to Jack's office and sat on the desk.

"I've done something, Jack," Ianto explained to Jack that Lisa wasn't dead, and that she was downstairs in a Cyber conversion unit. He told him that he couldn't bare to lose her and he never thought it could go badly."

Jack sighed. "You did the right thing to tell me, Ianto." 

"What are you going to do to her?" He asked quietly.

Jack stood up from the desk and looked out of the window that overlooked the hub. "Ianto, you have to understand that she died in the battle of canary wharf. Her brain and consciousness are being overtaken by a cyberman, and there's no cure." 

"There has to be," Ianto told him. "I can't lose her."

Jack turned around to look at him. "If there was a way, then I would do everything in my power to help you." He took his gun from the desk draw and loaded it.

"Jack, please don't." He tried to take the gun out of his hand.

"Ianto, I'm so sorry." He tried to go through the door, but Ianto closed it and stepped in front. "I have to do this. She's a threat to the world. What would happen if she got out of here?"

Ianto felt tears sting his eyes. "If you kill her, you'll kill a part of my world. "

"And I'll help you patch it back up later." He wrapped his arms around the other man. "I know it hurts Ianto. Believe me, I know what you're going through."

Ianto reluctantly stepped back and watched Jack disappear into the archives to make his way to where Lisa was. A few minutes went by and Rhia came in. She saw his face and hugged him. 

"What would've happened if I didn't tell him?" He asked her. He was now sitting on the desk chair and Rhia was in his lap.

"The others would've gone out for a bit while that Doctor you asked for came. He would've done something that made Lisa be able to breathe and walk on her own, but the others came back early and you had to hide them." She told him. "Lisa would then try to convert that Doctor before the others found out. Gwen nearly got converted and the delivery girl would've got killed. Jack got angry and told you to kill Lisa within ten minutes before they came down and did it for you."

Ianto sighed. "So this way was the best thing to do."

Rhia nodded. She got up from Ianto's lap. "I'll go and get you a cookie. You might feel better than." She left the office.

Jack came in not long later. "It's done and the others won't have to know."

Ianto couldn't help but let the tears stream down his face. "What do I do now?"

"You don't have to do anything. " Jack told him. "Go home, get some sleep and eat something. You don't have to come into work until you're ready and I'll get Tosh or Gwen to take Rhia for the night."

"I don't think I can be alone." Ianto whispered.

"I'll stay with you then." Jack said.

Ianto shook his head. "Why haven't you kicked me out or retconned me yet? Why aren't you shouting and telling everyone that I betrayed you?"

"It was a mistake, Ianto. You're only human, things like that happen." He put the gun on the desk and took his hand. "Listen to me. I wouldn't kick you out or do anything." There was a long pause. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

Ianto stood up and went with him. Jack asked Tosh if she could have Rhia for the night since she had spare clothes around her's. The older immortal said what he promised and stayed with Ianto through the night. He made dinner and helped Ianto with things before he went to sleep.


	6. The thing in the bathroom

Ianto opened his eyes and found himself in someone’s arms. He wasn’t really awake yet, so it didn’t seem strange until the memories came flooding back. Lisa was dead and Jack had killed her. Then he took him home and looked after him. Odd emotions were circling his mind, and he didn’t know what to do, so he got up and made coffee. He went over to the sofa and sat on it but he didn’t drink his coffee, he just stared at it like it had been the one that killed Lisa. 

He heard Jack come into the room and sit down next to him, but he didn’t react at all. Jack took the coffee from him and put it on the coffee table before he spilt it. He put his arms around him and let Ianto rest his head on his shoulder. “What do you need?” Jack asked him.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye to her.” His voice sounded broken. “What sort of person keeps their partner in the dark when they’re in excruciating pain?”

Jack took his hand and started rubbing circles on it with his thumb. “You tried your best to save her. Don’t blame yourself for it.”

Ianto shook his head. “But it’s not just that. While she was down there, I put all of you in danger.”

“Nothing like that happened, so you don’t have to worry about it.” He told him.

“That’s not all though.” He let go of Jack’s hug. “I thought I loved her and I thought I could never fall in love with anyone else.”

Jack sighed. “You have though, haven’t you.” He stated. “But that’s alright, Ianto. Falling in love is a natural thing to do.”

“Not when you’re supposed to be with somebody.” He took his cup of coffee, went to the kitchen and poured it down the sink. “You know, Lisa was the only reason why I came back to Wales in the first place. Nothing’s keeping me from staying here anymore.” 

Jack had followed him in. He had his arms crossed around the dressing gown he had borrowed from Ianto. “But there is isn’t there. Even if you decided to leave Torchwood, which I know you won’t because you like it too much, you still have one little six-year-old to look after. “

Ianto was still turned towards the sink. He leant over it and gripped onto the sides. “All that I’ve ever wanted is here. But sometimes it’s too much.”

“I know.” He waited for a second in case Ianto needed to say something else. “I need to go back to the hub.” He went back to Ianto’s room to get dressed. “You can stay here today. I’ll pick Rhia up from School and drop her off and don’t forget to ring up if you need anything.”

Ianto watched him make his way towards the door. “Jack, wait.” He called.

Jack turned and waited for Ianto to speak.

Ianto walked up to Jack and gently kissed him. “Thank you.” He said. He stepped back and saw Jack smile before he walked out of the flat.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

When Rhia found that Jack was picking her up from school, she got excited since he never got to pick her up. He drove her all the way to Caerphilly whilst listening to the stories of what she had got up to today. When they arrived, he carried her school bag back to the flat and opened the door with a spare key Ianto kept at the hub just in case. He told Rhia to get dressed in something more comfortable while he made her a snack and drink. Without making too much notice, he turned the kettle on and went to find where Ianto was. He found him in his bed, surrounded by four different blankets and reading a book.

Jack grinned. “You look comfy.” 

Ianto looked up from the book. “Yeah.” He put a bookmark in the book and placed it beside his lamp. “Jack about this morning...”

“It’s fine.” Jack quickly said. “Just a passing thought, nothing else.”

Ianto bit his lip and said. “What if it wasn’t though?”

Jacks eyes twinkled for a second but it soon passed and he sighed. “Then we’ll have this conversation another time. You need to recover.”

The younger man smiled softly. “Alright then.” He got out of his nest of blankets and passed Jack to go to the Kitchen.

Rhia popped out of her room wearing some leggings and a hoodie. When she saw Ianto, she ran up to hug him. “Hello, Ianto. Are you feeling better now?”

Ianto held her close. “Yes, I’m all better thanks.” It wasn’t really a lie, but at the same time, it was. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODoo000OOO 

Over the next few weeks, Rhia spent most of her time sleeping over at her cousin’s house. This was because the team was dealing with things that she shouldn’t see. She was worried when the others went camping to the Brecon Beacons and told Rhiannon that they were doing something dangerous. When Ianto picked her up, he was still bruised from what the trip did to him. 

She saw the Mary incident first hand, but she was back with Rhiannon when Suzie got brought back to life.

Finally, it was the Christmas holidays.

On the night Rhia broke up from school, they were in the flat and Ianto told Rhia to put her school clothes in the wash and to put on some Pyjamas. Five minutes later, Ianto heard a scream and Rhia ran out of the Bathroom.

“What’s wrong?” He got up from the sofa and walked into the bathroom and saw it. He ran back out and closed the door. “Don’t worry, I’ll get someone to deal with it.”

At this point, Rhia had claimed onto the sofa. “Can’t you do it?” She asked.

Ianto hesitated. “Um... No.” He went to his phone and called Jack.

It answered on the second ring. “Ianto. How are you?”

“Are you busy? I have a situation and I need help with it.” He said. He knew he was never going to live this down. 

“Is it a matter between life and death?” He asked. His voice had gone serious.

Ianto opened the bathroom door and closed it immediately. “I think so, yes.”

There was movement on the other end. Probably Jack getting his coat on. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” 

Ianto turned the phone off and went to the kitchen to make coffee for when Jack arrived. Around twenty two minutes later (Jack probably broke the spread limit. Oops) the door opened and Jack dashed in with alien tech. “What are you doing with all the alien tech?” He asked.

Jack gave him a look. “You said it was a matter between life and death.”

“Yes, but I never said it was dangerous.” He retorted.

“What are we dealing with here?” He questioned. 

Ianto felt his face heat up, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he took Jack to the bathroom and showed him inside. “I’m sorry I made you come all the way out here for this.”

Jack sighed, but he laughed when he saw Ianto’s face. “Go and get me a cup and a bit of paper.” Ianto came back with the cup and paper. “You know, it’s only a spider Ianto. It’s not even big.”

Ianto waited outside the bathroom while Jack went to catch it. “How did you get here so quick?”

Jack smiled. “I didn’t lock the hub up on the way out and I might have to ring the police station saying that it’s all a false alarm.”

Ianto groaned. “Why didn’t you lock up?”

He caught the spider and threw it out the open window and closed it. “It takes five minutes to lock up, as you know. I thought you were in danger, so I rushed.”

“Well, thank you for saving us from the spider.” He told him. He went to get Jack a mug of coffee while Rhia took Jack to the living room to show him a picture she drew. Ianto came back out with two mugs of coffee and a glass of juice for Rhia. 

The two of them just sat on the sofa in silence until Jack spoke. “You know, I would do anything to make sure I knew you were all right” He told him.

Ianto looked across to the other man with surprise written all over his face. “You would?”

Jack nodded. “Yes.” He then put down his coffee and leant over to catch his lips with Ianto’s. It was only small since Rhia was still in the room, but it was still there. He pulled away and smiled. 

Rhia looked up at them from where she was sitting on the floor. “Finally.” She whispered.


	7. Torchwood's Child's first christmas

It was three days until Christmas and Rhia had gotten more and more excited. Since the spider in the bathroom, Jack started staying around more and Rhia loved it. Last night, Jack had even stayed over till the next morning and woke up before Ianto. He made the two of them breakfast and the talked about time travel.

"I never asked, when's your birthday?" He asked her.

"March the thirtieth." She replied. "I'm going to be Six." 

They continued to eat their breakfast and talk until Ianto came in twenty minutes later. He was wrapped up in an oversized hoodie, his hands where stuffed in the pockets and his hair was ruffled. Jack gave him an adoring smile and stood up to place a small kiss on his nose. Ianto completely snuggled into Jacks touch and wrapped his arms his waist. It didn't seem like he would let go any time soon.

"You know you're going to have to let go soon Ianto," Jack told him softly. Rhia went to go and brush her teeth. Ianto didn't respond. "You can't fall asleep on me."

Ianto audible sighed. "Yes, I can." 

Jack chuckled. "We've got to go to the hub." Ianto continued to fall asleep. "We only have to go today and tomorrow, then we get three days off."

Ianto nodded. "Got to go to my sisters on Boxing day."

"Yes, and we get to spend Chrismas day together." He told him. "Along with an overexcitable five-year-old." 

"I never really had proper Christmas'." The younger man said.

Jack kissed him on top of his head again. "You will this year. Come on then, before Owen starts messing around with the coffee machine."

This seemed to wake Ianto up. "He wouldn't dare."

Jacks face went back to his usual charming grin. "Go and make some coffee while I check up on Rhia. She's been too quiet for too long." He left Ianto to do that as he went to Rhia's room. He saw her sitting on the bed wearing a new woolly dress with some leggings and playing with her teddy. The teddy now had a dress and a Santa hat on and Rhia was talking to it animatedly. "You look busy. " He said.

"Yep," Rhia replied. "We were talking about if Santa is a timelord or not."

Jack moved to sit on the end of her bed. He had a feeling this conversation would be highly entertaining. "Why do you think Santa is a timelord?"

Rhia crossed her legs itched her nose. She often did this when she was about to explain something important. "Well, He's lived for hundreds of years and his present bag is bigger on the inside than on the outside and he never changes his clothes."

"Those are very valid points. I'll ask the Doctor when I see him." In his mind, he added if he sees him.

Rhia grinned and they went out of her room. Jack went to get dressed and Ianto, who was already dressed, made a list of things to do. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

On Christmas eve, Rhia Ianto and Jack went to Tosh's house along with Owen and Gwen. It was a Torchwood tradition to have a small party on Christmas eve and chill. Tosh decided to host this year because she couldn't be bothered to drive all the way to Caerphilly and no one wanted to risk Rhia going inside Owens flat. They exchanged small presents and promised Rhia not to open them until the morning and they helped themselves to small party food pieces and glasses of wine (Rhia had shulr) 

Halfway through the party, Owen through it would be a good idea to play a game. There was a lot of debate between him and Ianto on what they were going to play, but in the end, they decided on Charades since it was something Rhia could play and it wouldn't lead to too many X rated things. Well, they tried to keep it that way. 

At around Eight, Ianto decided they needed to go and get Rhia to bed so she could be asleep before Santa came wink wink. The others said goodnight to them and they left to go home. Rhia fell asleep as soon as the got buckled into the car so Jack and Ianto talked. Jack said he would cook Christmas dinner since he'd had over a hundred years of experience and he generally was the better cook out of the two of them. Ianto was better at baking to he made a cheesecake earlier that day.

When they arrived home, Ianto carried little Rhia to her room and helped her get into Pajamas. She fell back asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Ianto came back into the living room and saw Jack carry a few presents to the fake tree they had. (There wasn't any time to buy a normal tree). He came up from behind him and pressed multiple kissed on his shoulder. 

"I think that's all of the presents," Jack said to him. He turned around to press his lips on Ianto's. 

Ianto slightly pulled away and bit his lips. "Not all of the presents. I can give you one of your's early." He whispered in Jack's ear in a low tone. 

Jack grinned. "Are the walls soundproof?" He asked.

"Very." He responded.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

The next morning, Rhia woke up VERY early and ran into Jack and Ianto's room to remind them that it was Christmas day and she was a very impatient five-year-old. Jack woke up first, so he could let Ianto have a five minute lay in, and took Rhia into the kitchen so she could help him make pancakes for breakfast. When they were done, they went to eat breakfast in Ianto's room while Jack told them stories of previous Christmas's in Wales.

"Christmas 1869 was the first time the rift played up." He told them.

Ianto shook his head. "No, it was the first time it was recorded."

Rhia grinned. "That's a Doctor Who episode. It's got Gwen's Alister in it." She informed them.

Ianto and Jack gave each other an amused look. "Do you mean ancestor?" Ianto asked.

Rhia shrugged her shoulders. "Can we open presents now? She asked.

The adults rolled their eyes but led Rhia to the living room. She picked one of the presents on her pile and began to open it. Ianto had his camera and waited until she opened it before snapping the shot. 

"Who's it from?" Jack asked.

Rhia looked for the label. "It's from Mummy and Poppy and Ben and Jordan and Rose and Donna and Martha and Little baby Ianto." She continued to open it and when she saw inside, she gasped.

"What did you get?" Ianto questioned.

Rhia held all the things up to them. It was all four season of Torchwood with a note saying not to watch until 15, the first four seasons of Doctor who and the complete Torchwood soundtrack. Another note said that this was all of her Christmas and birthday presents. "I can show everyone their theme tunes now." She excitedly said. She then moved on to the next present from Tosh. It was another little pink fluffy dog with a brown eye patch. She immediately decided to name him K-9. She opened the others and found that Owen had got her some hair things(Tosh helped with that present) and Gwen gave her a bracelet and a little pocket teddy. (Basically a teddy small enough to put in your pocket.) Ianto had brought her quite a lot of chocolate and a locket and Jack had somehow managed to get her a mini 1940's trench coat. The last present was was one from Alice and Steven (they were getting the rest when they went to Rhiannon's on boxing day. Ianto had told her that Santa had left all the presents there and Mica and David weren't opening their Santa presents until tomorrow either.). Steven had brought her a Chocolate Santa with his own pocket money and Alice had added some little bows.

When she had finished, Jack went to start of Christmas dinner while Ianto split his time helping, cleaning the table up and opening a few presents. Halfway through, Ianto had found his old CD player and told Rhia she could put any Christmas on she wanted. Rhia wanted to play the Torchwood music but Ianto said that if she saved it for later, then she could annoy Owen with it. She agreed to that and instead chose some normal jumpy Christmas music. She also informed the other two what happening in London at that moment with the Racnos.

After dinner, Rhia realised that she couldn't watch a Doctor who Christmas episode this year but then she remembered that yes she could. She went over to the DVDs and picked out the Christmas invasion because Ianto might want to know the story behind the hand that Jack had in a jar. She gave the disk to Ianto to put it on and the three of them sat on the sofa. The Doctor who theme tune started up and Rhia sang along. When the Doctor came on, Jack looked at her in confusion. "Who's that?"

"The Doctor." She said. "He regenerated. They just returned from Satellite five."

Jack found the floor suddenly very interesting. "Right."

Ianto took his hand and kissed it. "Should I ask?" 

Jack shook his head. "Not now. A story for another time."

They continued to watch in silence until the Sicorax chopped the Doctor's hand off and Ianto jumped up. "So that's that hand in the jar that I clean up every day!" 

Jack was now grinning. "Sure is."

"Definitely more creepy then it was before." He muttered under his breath and Jack laughed. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

On boxing day, Jack went to make sure everything at the hub was running smoothly while Rhia and Ianto went to Rhiannon's. If Ianto had to describe that day in one word, it would be chaos. It took forever to open all the presents from Santa and tidy away afterwards and they had cold turkey sandwiches for lunch. The children then went upstairs with piles of Chocolate and Toys and became twice as hyper as they were before. Rhiannon, Ianto and Jonny stayed downstairs and with a glass of wine and watched some terrible shows on the TV. 

The rest of the day went fast and before they knew it, Rhia and Ianto were back home where Jack was waiting for them and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow they were back to work (Rhia was going to Stevens) and they hoped it wouldn't be too busy. 

After New Years, everything happened all at once. Rhia watched as everything happened with the rift and she stood back so she wouldn't get in anybody's way. She kept the pocket teddy, she called Koschei because why not, with her wherever she went. The teddy was small enough not to be noticed by anyone so long as she had pockets. Rhia knew that Jack would be going any day soon and she wanted to go with him to obviously see Martha and the Doctor but to also she wanted to see the Master. She thought for a second. If she said that out loud then people would think she was bonkers. 

Jack and Tosh came back a few hours later and Rhia went up to him when he was alone and not doing anything particularly important. "Jack, can I go with you?"

He stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"When you go with the Doctor. Can I go with you?" She repeated.

He searched her face for something. "Do you know what happens?" 

She nodded.

"Will it be dangerous?"

She shook her head again

Jack made sure she was telling the truth but he was unsure. "Maybe."

"You gotta tell Ianto that you will be going somewhere though." She told him.

Jack wasn't listening and she knew he wouldn't do it so she wrote a note. All she put on it was **Watch Doctor who seasons three episode 11 and 12 and 13 then you'll know why Jack left. We'll be ok. Miss you.** She then put the note in the pocket with the teddy so it would be ready for when she needed it. 

When the others opened the rift, Rhia was ready for when Jack died and she stayed at the hub with Ianto for when he woke up. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this but it wasn't like it was on Tv. She couldn't pause time. 

The hand started glowing and Rhia dropped the note on Tosh's desk and ran after Jack when he went. She clung onto him when the Tardis went through time and space and she didn't let go until they arrived in the empty conglomeration. She managed to survive it somehow and she stayed beside Jack until he woke up. 

Jack then introduced them. "Doctor, this is Rhia. Don't be surprised if she comes out with something personal. She comes from a world where all this is fiction."

Rhia went to shake the Doctor's hand but pulled out at the last moment. "Nice to meet you Doctor but you need to say sorry to Jack for upsetting him."


	8. A year that might've happened

The Doctor and Martha looked at the two of them with surprise. There was silence for an entire minute before Rhia put her hands on her hips. “You haven’t said sorry yet.” The Doctors face was full of guilt but didn’t say anything. He just walked a bit and the other three followed him. The little girl sighed loudly. “You’re not going to have time to do it later because…”

Jack cut in. “Rhia.” He warned.

“I don’t get it,” Martha said. “So you can’t die. But you died and she didn’t?” She indicated to Rhia.

Jack thought about it for a second. She had a point but didn’t say anything about it and instead, he shook her hand. “Captain Jack Harkness.” He gave her his usual charming grin that usually sent everyone crazy. He always did it and he didn’t care who he did it too. Strangely, the only person he didn’t smile like that too was Ianto. Jack gave Ianto smiled that lit up his entire face. Those smiled were only seen when they were alone and he only gave them to Ianto.

Just as expected, Martha grinned. She was already caught up in his charm. “Martha Jones.”

“Don’t start!” The Doctor groaned.

“I was just saying hello,” Jack complained.

Rhia giggled and hugged Jacks arm. She was tired but she knew bedtime was a long way away. The adults talked for a bit as they walked away from the Tardis. It gave Rhia some time to think. She was suddenly scared of what was going to happen. Poppy always told her not to be scared of these episodes because they weren’t real and she had believed her and wasn’t scared anymore. Until it turned real. Sometimes she wished she had the mindset of other children her age.

The little five years old held her breath as they ran to the Silo. She saw all of the people waiting in the corridors so they could go to Utopia and only she knew that there wasn’t going to be a Utopia.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Back in Cardiff, Ianto had found the note and read it. Jack and Rhia had been missing for a few hours now and they had no idea where they went so the rest of them had gone home. He stayed though in case they came back by the look of Rhia's note, it didn't look like they would be back for a while. Maybe the episodes were a three-parter. Rhia had explained that the more episodes a story had in it, the more dramatic and terrible they were. 

Ianto locked the hub up and went home so he could make sense of the situation. He made himself some coffee and put the DVD on and watched all three episodes. "I can't believe I voted for Saxon." He muttered under his breath. Feeling suddenly tired, he went to bed but he didn't go to sleep just yet. The thought of not seeing Jack and Rhia for a year slightly unsettled him, even if he wouldn't remember it though he would always know it happened. He wouldn't be able to tell the others just in case. Ianto also knew that he wouldn't let any of them go to the Himalayas.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Rhia, Martha, Jack and the Doctor were back on earth just after the Master had stolen the Tardis. 

They headed to the warehouse after Martha's house got blown up and Rhia realised that this seemed to happen a lot. Or in the future anyway. Someone always wants to kill them and they always have to go on the run and something drastic always happens and the people who try to kill them often end up dead. She also thought about how similar the Spyfall episodes were to the sound of drums. The Doctor has to find the Master through time and the Master is crazy and they have to go on the run. Jack came back with chips and told the Doctor about Torchwood.

"You brought a six-year-old into Torchwood!?" The Doctor raised his voice. 

Jack looked at him. "She's five," Jack said.

"That doesn't make your case any better Jack." He complained.

Rhia sighed. "If you didn't leave him of Satellite five, then he wouldn't have gotten stranded in 1869 and he wouldn't have gotten caught by Torchwood and forced into working for them."

"Calm down Rhia," Jack told her calmly. "Besides, it's not all bad. I got to meet Ianto."

The small girl grinned. "Best day of your life was it?" She cheekily asked him.

He half-heartedly rolled his eyes but he didn't have it in him to Joke around.

The Doctor ate a chip. "Is he part of Torchwood?"

"Yeah." He said back.

Rhia rested her head on Jacks arm and closed her eyes. "I left him a note before he left and told him to watch the episodes. He's clever so they wouldn't have gone anywhere that would get them in danger."

"And you think Gwen would listen to him?" He asked. 

Rhia yawned. "Both Tosh and Owen would know that Ianto was right. Gwen would give in after a bit."

Martha scrunched up the bag the chips were in. "I think we have time?" She looked at the Doctor and he nodded. "Tell us about them. You seem close."

Rhia managed to climb onto Jack's knee before he started telling them about the team. He held her close so she wouldn't fall off and made sure his coat was wrapped around her so she wouldn't get cold. "I'll start at the beginning." He started. "Toshiko Sato was the first one. I recruited her back in 2003 because she was intelligent. She managed to make a highly complicated piece of technology from scratch without the right instructions. A little over a year later, Owen Harper joined. He's our Doctor and does all of the autopsies."

"Why would you need to do autopsies?" The Doctor asked.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Aliens die Doctor. Sometimes there are parasites and diseases we need to take care of so it doesn't happen again. About a month after the battle of Canary Wharf, Ianto Jones joined. Or rather, he tried multiple times to convince me to let him in."

Rhia poked her head out of the coat and looked at the Doctor. "Jack loves him." 

"Rhia, go to sleep," Jack told her tiredly. He continued. "Then Rhia turned up out of the blue with so much knowledge about the future and of us. We couldn't take her home without making a hole in the universe and she couldn't go anywhere else so she stays with us. Then a few months ago, Gwen Cooper joined and that makes the team." He sighed. "Much more like a family though."

The conversation then turned to the Master and the mess everything was as the moment. The Doctor made them some perception filters and they left the warehouse. Rhia was asleep so Jack carried her all the way. They teleported onto the Valient and Rhia woke up. Jack put her down but told her not to let go of his hand. 

Obviously, their plan didn't go right and they all got caught. Jack died, The Doctor got forced to age and Martha went to start on her long walk around the world while a tenth of the planet got killed. That was another thing Rhia noticed. Ten percent was a running theme.

It took eleven minutes for the Master to notice she was there. "Where did she come from? Have you got a name?" 

Rhia took the pocket teddy out of her pocket and held it tight. "Rhia Jones sir." She figured the more she took the Masters attention away from everything, the more time the others had to prepare. "I came to got your autograph before the price went up."

The master laughed and looked at the Doctor. "She's polite this one. Obviously not one of your then. " He made an effort to dramatically pretend to think. "What should we do to her?" 

"Don't hurt her!" Jack demanded.

Rhia internally rolled her eyes. Didn't anyone know that if you say things like that then the person would know their weak spot.

The Master grinned. "You don't get to tell me what to do." He took a dramatic pause for effect. Rhia thought he was worse than how they told him on screen. "But I'm feeling nice." He looked over to his wife. "Go and take her to a spare room. She needs rest." He turned back to the others and continued to have hi fun.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Martha landed on the grass below with only a vague plan but she didn't know where to start. She knew she had to find the Torchwood team at some point so she could tell them what to do and then the job would be done more efficiently.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Back up in the valient for the next few months, the Master kept Rhia away from Jack and the Doctor and any of the Jones's. She stayed in her two rooms (One for sleeping, one for everything else) and tried to get news of the others. The master came in twice a week for a few minutes to try and get her to open up. Of course, each time he left with nothing. He found out that she named the pocket bear after him and sometimes told her stories of Galifrey. Rhia was clever and got the Master to give more information about himself then he would give to anyone else. 

Rhia found out that the Master only did all of these things to get the Doctors attention. He told her that the Doctor did something unforgivable a long time ago and this was his revenge. When he told her this, they were both sitting on her bed. His face showed his true emotions since he didn't have to hide anything from her. I mean, who was she going to tell. 

"When was the last time someone asked how you were?" She asked him.

He didn't say anything for a bit nor did he look at her. "I'm a timelord. It's not a question we get asked."

"You're still a person. No matter how many times you deny it, you still have feelings." She told him.

The master didn't say anything. He was tapping the rhythm of four on his leg. 

"Were you in love with him?" She asked out of the blue.

He turned to look at her. "You're five. What do you know about it?"

Rhia shrugged. "I'm six today. Jack thinks somethings advanced my brain and it grows more informed every few days."

The master turned back around. "You humans are lucky you get to have birthdays."

"I won't this year." In her head she said neither will anyone back down on earth but that would just make the master bring up his defences. 

He looked around to her again. "What do you want?" He asked. 

"Could I talk to Jack?" She saw the look on his face change drastically. "It doesn't have to be for long and you could still listen in on the cameras."

He stood up and made for the door but before he left, he turned to look at her. The ice was back in his eyes. "Twenty minutes. I'll send for someone to take you." He said sternly and he left. 

Rhia only had to wait a few minutes before someone took her right to the bottom of the Valient where they held Jack. He was still chained up but the Unit Gaurd unchained him and led the two of them into a room. There were two chairs far apart the person told them to sit on the chairs at all times. They were not allowed any closer to each other and the conversation would be monitored. The guard then stood outside.

Jack took one look at her and grinned. "How did you convince him?" 

"No clue." She lied. One word about the conversations they have and everyone on the Valient would be dead within the hour. 

Jack knew she was lying but didn't say anything. "You alright?" He asked.

She paused but then nodded. "Just nine more months and it'll be a year. You ok?"

Jack understood what she meant. "I'm alright." He lied.

Rhia bit her lip. "Do you miss him?"

The immortal took a deep sigh. "I miss them all." He paused. "What if he's dead. He'll never know..."

"Tell him when you see him." She told him.

Jack took a sigh of relief. He knew that meant Ianto would be alive after all this. "He won't appreciate it."

"You don't know until you try." She said.

At that moment the Master came in with his usual evil grin. "I know I said twenty minutes but I changed my mind. Say your goodbyes because you'll never see each other again!"

Rhia rolled her eyes at him. "Bye Jack." She told him. "See you soon,"

"Look after yourself." He said back.

The Master escorted Rhia out and when they were alone in a corridor she spoke. "Thank you." 

This caught him off guard for a second. "Weren't you listening. That was the last time you'll ever see him."

She wasn't listening properly. "You should tell him."

"What are you on about now?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes again. "You know what I mean."

The Master was silent. He did know what meant but he wasn't going to admit to it. Never in a million years.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Seven months in and Martha was somewhere in Johannesburg. It had been a bit of luck that she was able to get there because it was hard to come across boats these days. It took weeks to get there. One night, she was talking to a group of people when there was a knock on the door. Someone went to open it and there stood a man. 

"Ianto Jones." He introduced himself as.

Martha smiled. In February, she had run into Gwen Cooper in Germany. Gwen said that the team had split up to try and help after they realised what Martha had been doing. In April, she had met Toshiko Sato in the middle of Tokyo. Tosh was just on her way to India because she was trying to get hold of something. She wouldn't say what though just in case. They had parted ways and three weeks later, she bumped into (Literally) Owen Harper on the border between Mongolia and Russia.

Martha stood up and went to shake his hand. "Martha Jones."

Ianto knew her. Not personally but she was in the episodes. "Have you heard from Jack and Rhia?"

"Not since the beginning." She saw his face drop. "I'm sure they're fine. Jack told me all about you."

Ianto gave her a sad smiled. "Ok."

Martha knew he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Have you heard from the others?"

He took a deep breath. "Gwen went back to her flat in Cardiff to see if Rhys was ok. She was shot on sight."

"Could've been rumoured?" Martha asked unsurely.

"I saw it happen." He explained. "Owen was in new york the same time as when the toclothane decided to destroy it. I don't know if he made it out or not. And as for Tosh, I haven't heard a single thing. That could either mean she's dead or she's staying low."

Some of the people that were in the house offered the two of them some bread and water. They took as little as they possibly could and told their story. Then they left together and travelled as much of the southern hemisphere as they could.

A month later, they parted ways because they realised no one had been to Australia yet. Unless Tosh was there. Martha went into a completely different direction and crossed the water.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

There was only a week left until it was over and Rhia was getting excited again. Not overly excited, but it was just some excitement. She hadn't been allowed to see Jack again but the Master continued to see her and they continued to talk about things.

Now there was only a day left. The Master announced to everyone that Martha and Ianto had been seen back in London and he was trying his best to get them caught. Rhia had a feeling that they would be brought up to the Valient together and Ianto would then remember everything. It's not like he didn't know what was going to happen. 

Only a few hours left and everyone was ordered into the main room. Rhia sat at the back so she would be away from Jack and the Doctor.

The Master brought Martha and Ianto up and they kept straight faces. Throughout the time Ianto and Martha had travelled together, he had told her everything that was going to happen. Well, not everything but most things.

Right on the hour, things began to work and soon enough time had reversed back a year and no one on earth remembered. When the chance came, Ianto ran into Jack's arms and they kissed passionately in front of everyone. Not that anyone minded. 

Lucy still shot the Master though and the Doctor held on tight to him. This moment needed to happen or nothing in the future would be the same. For one thing, this regeneration of the Doctor would live longer.

When Rhia had decided that Jack and Ianto had kissed long enough, she went up to them and gave both a hud. Ianto came down to her hight so he could hug her properly. "I don't know what the others are going to do." She told them.

"What do you mean?" Ianto asked.

"You just disappeared right in front of them." She answered.

Ianto grinned. "Nothing new there then." He stood back up to hug Jack.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

The Doctor dropped the three of them back in Cardiff a few months after then he should've done. They hugged Martha goodbye and told her to come to a visit before heading back to the hub. 

Ianto sighed when he looked around the place. "I don't know how they manage without me." The place was full of dusk, takeaway pots and dirty mugs." He paused. "I don't want to think about how dusty the flat is." He yawned.

Jack put his arms around him. "I'll drive us back. Pick up some pizza on the way. Then we'll eat, have a bath and have some sleep before we get shouted at."

Ianto didn't protest. They all got into the car and headed back to Caerphilly. Ianto opened the door and flopped onto the sofa. Rhia got some plats out and Jack made some drinks. They ate mostly in silence, just glad of each others company. They all had missed each other so much. Rhia went to have a quick bath while Jack helped her and Ianto cleaned up a bit. After she went to bed, Ianto and Jacked shared the next bath and also got ready to sleep a few hours. Once they were in bed, Rhia somehow managed to sneak in the middle of the two of them and the three of them slept until late in the afternoon. 


	9. Can you keep a secret?

Ianto was the first to wake up. He got up and went to the window to see the sun was low in the sky. He turned around again and Rhia had sat up. She moved to stand next to him so she could get hugs.

“We’re on season 2 now.” She said tiredly.

He ruffled her hair. “Well, I hope we don’t have to deal with anything at the moment.” He told her.

Rhia didn’t say anything.

“That says it all.” He muttered.

The little girl watched a car drive past the window. “Do I have school tomorrow?”

Ianto went to look at the calendar but he remembered it hadn’t been turned in months. He didn’t even know how many months had gone by. “No idea, but I think you deserve a bit of rest.”

Rhia sighed. “My attendance will be atrocious.”

“Those are big words for a five-year-old.” He remarked.

“I’m not five Ianto,” Rhia told him off. “And even if the year didn’t exist, we still age. Also, my mind is superior.”

Ianto grinned. “I know.” He paused for a second. “How will the others take it?”

Rhia looked up. “I don’t know. Everything could be completely different now that you remember. Also, you probably disappeared right in front of the others and they are probably grumpy because they haven’t had coffee for a while.”

“You’re probably right.” He told her.

Just then, Jack woke up and went to stand beside them. He wrapped his arms around Ianto and kissed him sleepily on his neck. Rhia reached to take Ianto’s hand and the three of them just looked out of the window until the sun started to set which didn’t take long. Rhia went to her room to get dressed into a pinafore and leggings while Jack and Ianto got ready.

The three of them stepped out together in the Welsh evening air and went on their way to find the other three.

It didn’t take long for Ianto to find the SUV, so they went to where it was going. Jack told Rhia to stay behind them no matter what happens in case the alien they were chasing was armed in some way or other.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

All six of them stood in the hub. Jack, Ianto and Rhia on one side and Gwen, Owen and Tosh on the other.

Gwen was letting everything that was bottled up out and the others thought it was best just to let it all out so they were silent.

“So you leave you of nowhere with a five-year-old without telling anyone.” She cried at Jack. Then she turned to Ianto. “And you just disappear right in front of us and we don’t hear a word from you and now you’re here like nothing happened.” Rhia didn’t think it was a good idea to point out she was now six. “You left us, Jack. Something terrible could’ve happened to Ianto though I’m not surprised he managed to find you.”

Ianto thought it was time to cut in. “Gwen, it's fine. Really.”

“No Ianto it’s not.” She demanded. “Your boyfriend took your daughter to who knows where. Knowing Jack, it was probably somewhere dangerous.”

Ianto didn’t say anything but Owen thought he should have a go. “Ok, Gwen that’s enough.”

Gwen then turned to him. “But Owen, they left us and we couldn’t manage it.”

“Well they’re back now and we managed just fine.” He told her. She was about to answer back but he held up a hand. “Seriously Gwen, just leave it. It’s been a long day.”

She reluctantly went to her desk, picked up her bag and went.

Rhia thought that was odd but whatever happened now, it wouldn’t be the same as the episodes. However, one thing remained the same. John Hart.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

After John Hart had left, Rhia felt exhausted. They had found out that it was the beginning of the Easter holidays so she had time to sleep and everything.

Jack stayed over that night and the night after and three days after they arrived back, Rhia told Ianto that they should go and see Rhiannon, Mica and David. Ianto didn’t like that idea much since he would have to come up with something when Rhiannon asked why they hadn’t been around lately.

Jack offered to come with them and Ianto agreed so they all go into the car.

In the front, Jack and Ianto were coming up with what to tell his family while Rhia watched two raindrops race each other down the side of the car window.

They arrived and Rhiannon was already standing at her door with her arms crossed. Rhia ran to her while Ianto and Jack stayed back a little.

“Hello, aunt Rhiannon,” Rhia shouted through the rain.

Rhiannon opened her arms so Rhia could catapult herself into a hug. “Mica and David are upstairs Love. I need to have a word with my brother.”

“Ok.” Rhia took her shoes and coat off and rushed up to Mica and David’s room. When she got there, David was on a DS and Mica was playing Lego.

Mica was the first to see her. “Rhia.” She screeched and went to hug her. “You’ve been gone forever. Mam said you and uncle Ianto disappeared.”

David got up from his bed. “She said he hadn’t answered any phone calls or anything for months.”

Mica nodded. “Mam told us she rang up your school and they didn’t find you.”

Rhia sighed and sat on Mica’s bed. “We’re ok now.”

David sat on his bed and crossed his arms. “Where were you?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you.” She told them reluctantly. “Sorry.”

He shrugged. “Why can’t you tell us?”

Rhia thought for a second. “You know James bond.” The other two nodded. “Well his job is secret and he can’t tell anyone secrets because other people could get hurt.”

“So what you’re saying is that Uncle Ianto is James Bond,” David stated.

Rhia shook her head. “No James Bond isn’t real. I mean he could be in another universe but what I meant was that he can’t tell anyone where he works and what he works with.”

“Uncle Ianto’s job is dangerous?” Mica asked.

“Yep,” Rhia answered.

David came up closer and sat next to his sister. “So is Uncle Ianto a superhero like Batman.”

Rhia thought about it for a moment. “He’s a superhero but not like Batman. He doesn’t have a cape and flies around the world with his nickers inside out.”

“That’s superman. “ David informed her. “So does he save the world?”

Rhia nodded. “He saves the world all the time form things you couldn’t imagine. And he does it all in a suit and with a mug of coffee and it’s completely secret so I can’t tell you anymore.” She told them. “Promise you won’t tell anyone. “

“I promise,” Mica told her.

David nodded. “Promise.”

Soon enough, that conversation was soon finished and the three of them sat on the floor and played with Mica’s Lego.

Meanwhile downstairs, Rhiannon was having a conversation with Ianto and Jack without letting them speak at first since she was asking them about where they had been. That was after Ianto introduced her to Jack and more questions were asked. Very little of those questions were answered though.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

After the Easter holidays were over, Rhia went back to school and had to tell Steven something. Of course, she didn’t tell him where she went but she did say sorry for not being there for a few months. He understood.

“I saw Uncle Jack bring you to school today,” Steven told her at lunchtime.

Rhia took a bite out of her sandwich. “He did. Ianto was busy and Jack stayed over last night so he took me in.” She explained.

Steven looked at her. “Did Uncle Jack and Ianto sleep in the same bed?”

She shrugged. “I think so. Why?”

“Mum said when two people sleep in the same bed and they’re grown up, then they love each other.” He told her. “Do they love each other?”

“I think they do,” Rhia replied. “Even if they haven’t told each other yet.”

Steven opened his packet of crisps and gave a few to his friend. “Do you think they might get married?”

Rhia taped the table. “I’m not sure. Maybe in the future when they finally realise that all they want is each other.”

“And then you could have two dads and we will be cousins.” He told her.

She shrugged. “Maybe Steven,” Rhia said. “Maybe once everything is sorted out.”

Just then the bell went and they went to their class. They had an art lesson taught by Mr White. Rhia wasn’t paying attention to it and looked out of the window. About half an hour in, the class heard the sound of a few explosions in Cardiff. The Whole class bar Rhia and Steven were running around frantically. Steven knew he shouldn’t panic if his friend didn’t panic because she knew more then she could say.

He went up to her. “You know what caused that.” He stated.

She nodded. “Just a few sleeper agents.” She told him without realising and when she did finally realise, she put her hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

He looked confused. “They sound like aliens.” The look on her face said everything and he grinned. “I knew Uncle Jack probably worked with something like that.”

“You can’t tell anyone.” She told him. “It’s a secret.”

Steven was still grinning. “Torchwood right?” He asked. “The most well-known secret in Cardiff. Mum said there’s a rumour that they work with aliens.”

Rhia rolled her eyes. “Well please don’t say a word, Steven.”

He nodded. “I promise.” He looked out of the window. “So what’s happening at the moment?”

She sighed. “Well, Jack and Gwen are chasing the aliens somewhere and the other three are at the hub doing…things.”

“Oh ok. Do you know what the aliens want?” He asked.

“Just the normal.” She said. “They probably want to take over the earth.” Rhia couldn’t remember this episode much.

“You sound like this happens every day.” He said amazed.

She smiled. “More like every week.”

He picked up a pencil and drew a line on the paper. “Is that where you went then. Something to do with aliens?”

“Something like that.” She answered.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Over the next few weeks, Rhia started up her usual routine. Wake up early, Jack makes breakfast while Ianto does the drinks. Get ready for school. Sometimes both Jack and Ianto take her to school before they go to the hub. Then she does class and talks to Steven. After school, either Owen, Tosh or Gwen picks her up or Ianto takes her to Rhiannon’s. Then dinner and whatever Alien things have been going on today.

The most recent thing going on had been Adam. It started when someone forgot to pick her up from school. The office had to ring them up and obviously, Adam had done his thing and they suddenly remembered she existed. In the end, Tosh picked her up and drove her to the hub.

They got there and Rhia went straight up to the kitchen, completely ignoring Adam. She saw this episode and absolutely hated him so she needed to do what she could not to say anything. Ianto came up and poured her a glass of milk and handed her an apple.

“What’s wrong Rhia? You normally say hello before you come up here.” He asked her.

She shrugged. “Everything’s completely fine.” She grinned. She thought for a second. “Actually no. I think I have the stomach bug. The teachers were worried.”

Ianto looked at her face. Something wasn’t right but he was just going to play with it. “Yes, you do look a bit ill. I’ll see if Jack will let me take tomorrow off.”

They went downstairs and Adam came up closer to them.

“Hi, Adam,” Rhia called.

He looked confused.

Jack came down and looked at them. “Everything alright?” He asked.

Ianto shook his head. “She’s got the bug. I’m going to take her home. Might be contagious.”

Owen came up at the right moment. “I don’t want any bugs around here thank you.”

Ianto and Rhia left and he drove her back to the flat in Caerphilly. He didn’t speak until they got home. “So what’s really going on?” He asked her.

She didn’t say anything. Instead, she went to her room and pulled out a DVD. Torchwood Season 2 Episode 5 to be exact. She put it on and the two of them started to watch it.

“If this is anything about the future…” Ianto started to say.

She shook her head. “He can sense when things are wrong.”

They watched all the way through apart from the bits in Jacks memory because they were still privet until he told Ianto.

“I should tell Jack.” He said.

Rhia looked up at him. “Maybe. Don’t think about it though.” She took the DVD out and Ianto went to pack an overnight bag for Rhia.

“I’m taking you to Rhiannon’s and I’ll see you in a few days.” They got into the car and he drove them.

When they were nearly there Rhia coughed. “You might have to write down that you’re taking me here and you probably have to retcon me too. I’ll understand why when I wake up.”

He nodded and handed her a carton of apple juice and a really small dose of Retcon. “I know you’re too young to have it but it should be ok in this amount of dosage.”

She took it and soon enough, she fell asleep.

When Rhia woke up, she was on the sofa in Pyjamas and it was dark so she went back to sleep again.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and soon enough, Rhia Leanne Jones had been in that reality for a year. It was a great moment really and she, Jack and Ianto watched Doctor who episodes from season 1 to celebrate.

Jack had told Ianto most of his secrets. About Gray and his time with the Time Agency and Ianto listened to it all. 

Then came the few days where Martha came for a visit and Owen died and came back to life again. Only that he wasn't alive. Rhia gave him a hug becuse he deserved it. She never watched those episodes but she knew the outline on what happened. 

About a fortnight later, Gwen and Rhys got married. Rhia had always loved this episode becuse she liked the bit where Jack and Ianto danced at the end. Gwen made her a little flower girl because they didn't have one and Gwen only thought of the idea at the last minute so Rhia found herself throwing flowers at the floor in front of Gwen and she went to sit down in between Jack and Ianto. In the end, the wedding was good espeshially after the aliens. She helped Ianto pick out some music at the in the DJ bit and she had secretly brought her Torchwood Music CD and asked Ianto if they could play Jack and Rhys's theme. Rhia then told them later that it was their theme tune in the show and they liked it. 

The next episode was from out of the rain and Rhia opted to stay with Rhiannon throughout this one becuse it scared her.

She was upstairs with Mica and David but she didn't feel like playing.

"What's wrong Rhia?" Mica asked her.

Rhia looked over to her little cousin. "Something bad's going to happen."

"Uncle Ianto will save the day won't he?" David asked.

She nodded. "Yes. But no one can save Tosh and Owen."


	10. Torchwood's child's first alien battle

Rhia knew that Jack brother take revenge soon but she didn’t know how soon. At first, she thought it all happened in the same year but in reality, each story that happened in the episodes were months apart.

Every Saturday night, Jack came over to the flat in Caerphilly at about three PM rift permitting and helped Rhia with any homework she needed doing while Ianto got everything prepared for dinner. At half four, the three of them made dinner together and Rhia set the table for everything to be ready. Then they had their nice family dinner (Rhia liked to call it that) and they talked as they ate and spent time together.

This started happening two months before Christmas and became a routine for the three of them.

Rhia and Steven moved up a year in September and started slightly more advanced work since they were now in year three. Rhia liked their new teacher, Mr Paulo-Smith because he was funny. Tosh also found out that he had once worked at UNIT in the late 80s but had moved on because he found aliens were too much for him.

Time went by really fast and before they knew it, it was coming close to Christmas 2007. 

It was the last day of school that term and Rhia's class were going on a school trip to the Millennium Centre to see a play about Christmas. It was only a short one, so they were going to the museum for a few hours to have lunch and to look around. There were only sixteen children in the class so they only needed two teachers and a not quite mini, minibus. 

Mr Paulo Smith told them to stand in pairs in front of the bus while he took the register. Rhia and Steven obviously stood together.

"Bronwyn Adams!" The teacher called.

A girl with blonde hair whom Rhia hated with a passion answered. "Here sir." She tried to be the teacher's pet but everyone knew that she was mean and spiteful. Steven and Rhia avoided her if they could.

"Steven Carter!" Mr Paulo-Smith said.

"Here sir." He said back.

Mr P ticked his name of the register.

"William Covington!" Was the next name. He was one of those boys that loved Rugby too much for it to be healthy. Next on the list was Isla Evans, then Cerys and Olivia Ferguson. They were the twins who came out of nowhere and Rhia suspected they weren't 100% Human. Then there was Pedro Fisher, Lauren Jains and Rhia. After Rhia was Timothy Latimer ( Rhia found this one reasonably funny), Danielle Mason, Beatrice Mathews (She followed Bronwyn everywhere.) Next was Susan Quake, Rhys Sombry, Bryn Toby and Alaya Winters.

Then they were allowed on the bus. Rhia and Steven managed to get near the back so no one would hear the conversations. It wasn't a long ride to the Millennium Centre so they only had time for small talk.

"This is strange," Steven told her. "A school trip on the last day out of nowhere. Mum said the form only arrived the day before yesterday."

Rhia nodded. "And they only sent out sixteen of the forms when at least five more of the class could've come." She looked out of the window. "Why us. I mean Susan's parents never let her go anywhere and William, Pedro and Alaya missed their Rugby game for this."

"My mum had an important meeting tonight. She said the other day that I wouldn't be able to go because there was no time." Steven got the permission form out of his bag. 

Rhia took it and inspected it. "I think whoever did this chose us because we were the least likely to go." She flipped in upside down and inspected it. "It's just a normal bit of paper but somehow is persuaded everyone to sign it. Some sort of perception telepathic...thing..." She passed it back.

"Do you think its aliens?" He asked as he stuffed it back in his bag.

Rhia grinned. "Not everything is about aliens Steven but you could be right." She looked out of the window again. She thought for a moment. "Wait, were going to the Millennium Centre, aren't we."

Steven nodded. 

"Well, what sort of place is it?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "It's an Opera house. It shows these really famous musicals and professional performances. Mum told be ABBA played there once."

Rhia looked at him in surprise. "What, really." She shook her head. "Back to the point. What are we going there for?"

"Um. A small play about Christmas?" He said unsurely.

"No. Look at the paper. What does it say." She took the paper out of his bag and held it up to him. "Read it."

Steven took it from her. "It says permission to take your child out of school to the Millennium Centre on Tuesday 18th ...Oh."

"Exactly." She told him. "It never said where we were going. Now you can see past the perception filter, tell me what else is wrong with it."

Steven looked at it hard. "I don't know Rhia."

She sighed. "What happens around this time every year?" He looked clueless so she helped him out. "The centre closes for a few days so it can prepare for Chrismas eve but over the past few years, children go missing from the school. No one's picked up on it yet because theirs a strong perception filter. That's the reason why we're going to the museum later so it looked like we got lost in the halls."

"So aliens?" He asked.

Rhia nodded aliens. "Aliens."

"We should tell the teac..." He started to say.

"We can't. They might be in on it." She took a deep breath. "What we need to do, is get off the bus and go and get help."

He looked at her. "Who's going to help us?"

Rhia smiled slightly. "Steven, I'm going to introduce you to Torchwood."

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

The school bus came to a stop and everyone started getting out. Rhia pulled Steven back and brought him to the emergency exit. She put her finger to her lips to make sure he stayed quiet before she opened the door so they could sneak out without anyone noticing. They moved around the bus but she stopped them. "We're going to have to go the long way around but we have to be quick." They ran around the back to the Millennium Centre and stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"Why didn't we go too quick way?" He asked his best friend.

"Because then they'd see us and we'd show them the way to the hub. If it is aliens, then they'd know about Torchwood. The form slip that addressed to both Ianto and Jack and the school know that they should only put Ianto's name on it." She looked around the corner. "They're going to notice we're not there in a minute and they're going to look for us."

Steven looked around the city. "I've never been out without an adult before. Everything's a lot bigger."

Rhia gave him a reassuring smile. "First time for everything. Come on Steven, we can't waste any more time."

She led him around the roads and buildings until they could see the bay. She took him to Ianto's Information Centre and they stood outside for a second. 

"Why are we stopping?" He asked her.

"I'm going to get into so much trouble." She told him. "I told you about Aliens."

He shook his head. "No. I guessed it and you're a terrible liar. Anyway, it doesn't matter. We need to save the class and defeat the aliens."

"It might not be a bad alien Steven. It could think it's helping by doing what it thinks is right." She opened the door but Ianto wasn't in. "Close your eyes." She told him."

"Why?" He asked.

She sighed. "Because you're not allowed to see where the button is." She closed his eyes and she pressed the button under the desk. "Ok. You can open them." She pulled him down the passage until they got to the lift. They stepped in and she pressed the other button. "They're going to know that we're here so don't be alarmed in they're all standing at the door ready to ask for an explanation."

He slowly nodded.

"Oh and close your eyes once we get there. You don't want to know what they do when I'm at school." She told him.

They got there and Rhia opened the cog door. She was right. Gwen, Tosh, Owen, Jack and Ianto were standing around the place looking at them come in.

Jack had his arms crossed. "I hope you're here to tell me the worlds ending."

Rhia opened her mouth to begin explaining but Steven beat her to it.

"Uncle Jack, we were on the school trip to the Millennium Centre but Rhia said something dangerous was going on so we ran here for help." He told him just as Myfanwy decided to fly over their heads. "That's a dinosaur." Steven was now more interested in Myfanwy.

Jack went up to the two children. "Gwen, could you introduce Steven to Myfanwy." 

Ianto was just about to get some drinks for everyone before he realised something and turned back around. "Wait, what school trip."

Rhia got out the form from Stevens bag and handed it to him. "It had a perception filter on it."

Ianto looked at it and handed it to Tosh who started doing scans. Rhia started explaining everything she knew or thought and they listened. 

"I had basic Telepathic training in Torchwood London so I could see past a perception filter," Ianto said as he ran his hand through his hair. "How could I let this happen?"

Jack pulled him into a hug. "It's not your fault. We all missed the signs that this was going on." He planted a small kiss on top of his head and pulled back. "We don't know what we're up against so we need everyone at full alert."

"I'm coming too," Rhia told them. "You could say you found me running about outside as a cover story."

Jack hesitated. "Alright, but do exactly what we say." He turned to Tosh. "Tosh, could you stay here and direct us through the comms. Also, keep an eye on Steven and call Alice to say that one of us will drop him off home but whatever you do, don't mention me or that we have a situation."

"Ok, Jack," Tosh answered while looking at the computer.

Gwen and Steven came down.

"Steven, you'll be safer here with Tosh. Be good for her and don't touch anything you don't recognise." He told him and he looked at Gwen. "The school won't know you so you can tell them Rhia god lost."

Gwen nodded.

Jack continued. "Owen, you go through the left door, Ianto you go through the stage door. I'll go through the front door. Keep your comms at all times. The main priority is to get the children to safety. Try not to use the guns unless absolutely necessary. Owen, go and get retcon. Rhia, try and get your class outside but if you can't then get then to hide. Don't alert them that anything's wrong unless you have to. Pretend you're playing hide and seek." He went away for a second and came back with a smaller comm unit. "Don't take it off. Whatever you do." He told the little girl.

"Uncle Jack, what are you doing?" Steven asked. 

Jack shook his head. "It's best you don't know."

Gwen and Rhia went out via the lift while the other four went out the other way.

Ianto was silent all the way up in the corridor. 

Jack put a hand on his shoulder. "Ianto..."

"I can't believe You just did that Jack." He looked into his eyes. "I can't believe I let you do that."

The older man sighed. "Ianto, It..."

"I know it was the only thing that could've been done in a short time, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." He told him.

Owen and Gwen were keeping quiet. 

"Ianto. Rhia's clever. She has the mind of a 15-year-old and I think she'll manage it." Jack told him.

"But she's not 15. She's six and I worry about her." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Rhiannon was right. I'm getting all the instincts of a parent."

Jack smiled. "You are her parent technically." They arrived outside the Millennium. "Be careful. All of you." They moved to their places.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Rhia had been reunited with her classmates while Gwen managed to find herself inside.

Mr Paulo-Smith was nowhere to be seen. Actually, Rhia couldn't see anyone but her classmates. Whatever was coming for them wanted to keep them waiting. She had an idea.

"Who dares me to climb onto the stage?" That got everyone's attention.

Susan shook her head. "The play will start soon."

"The play was supposed to start hours ago," Tim said. "Go on Rhia I dare you."

Rhia grinned and climbed onto the stage. "I did it. Now how many of you are brave enough to join me?"

The boys, Alaya and Isla immediately followed. 

"Anyone else?" Rhia called to the rest. They didn't follow. "Carys, Olivia. Come on it'll be fun."

Rhia bit her lip. She watched William go behind the curtain and come out again.

"Look, there's an open door that goes outside ." He said and everyone naturally wanted to take a look. Lauren, Carys, Olivier and Danielle joined them on the stage. 

Over the comm, Rhia heard Owen say something that sounded oddly like he had found some half-eaten human bodies in one of the changing rooms. Ianto confirmed he found some a moment later.

"I have some money. We could co to the cafe across the road and get crepes." Bryn called. 

Rhia nodded. "I'll stay here and cover for you all." She looked over to her remaining classmates. "Susan, the crepe place does glutton free stuff so you'll be alright."

Susan now had a massive grin on her face. She came over to join the rest of them.

Rhia looked back. The only one there. "Beatrice, where's Bronwyn?" She asked.

"Bathroom." She replied.

She didn't like the sound of that. "Go with them and save a seat for her then. She wouldn't want to miss out on Crepes."

Beatrice reluctantly came over. "Make sure you tell her."

"Will do." She looked over at the rest of them. "Bryn, you know the way." He nodded. "Go and take everyone then." The thirteen children left the building and made their way towards the Crepe place. Rhia was now on her own in the middle of the stage.

Jacks voice sounded in her ear. It was just the comm though. "Rhia, how's your situation?"

Rhia looked around. "They're outside and making their way towards the Crepe escape." She heard Owen laugh through the comm. "Bronwyn's gone missing though."

"Ok. We'll find her." Ianto's voice came through. "Now get yourself to safety."

"Ok," Rhia said and switched the com off by accident. She was about to follow the others to the Crepe place when she heard a scream above her. In one of the side wings right at the top were two figures. One of them was Bronwyn. Rhia was about to tell Jack but she didn't know how to switch the com on. She would have to do this on her own. 

Rhia looked around the room. There wasn't enough time to get to the stairs and climb up so she would just have to get up one of the ropes. Silently, she climbed. Bronwyn had stopped screaming but the alien was growing ferociously. Rhia looked down. She was very high up but that wasn't going to stop her. From what she heard, this alien was dangerous because it had eaten the entire staff and probably Mr Paulo-Smith and the TA. Rhia was almost there but the alien was about to strike. "Oi, Mr alien dude or dudess."

This had got the aliens attention. 

"Rhia Jones, I'm going to tell on you," Bronwyn said.

Rhia looked at her like she had grown another head. "What, why. I don't think you noticed but this alien was about to eat you. It still will if we don't get you out."

"There's no such thing as aliens." Bronwyn stood up. The alien was puzzled why they were ignoring it.

"What's that then, a fish?" Rhia knew Bronwyn would be one of those who denied everything even if it was staring her in the face.

Bronwyn didn't stop. "It's someone in a costume. Don't be stupid. You're just as stupid as your dad and everyone he works with. Mummy said only freaks believe in stuff like that and I think she's right. You and your family should go to a madhouse."

Rhia took a deep breath. "If you haven't noticed, I'm hanging off a rope very high of the ground so I can save you from getting eaten so could you please not insult my family."

"I'm going to tell on you for climbing the rope." She crossed her arms. The alien was getting bored so it was growling again. "What are you doing anyway?"

Rhia honestly couldn't believe it. "I'm saving you...just forget it. Go and get eaten by the alien."

Said alien was getting ready to pounce so Rhia somehow managed to get from the rope to the balcony and punched the alien on the nose. Or where the nose should've been. The alien fell over and seemed dazed for a bit. "Get on the rope and climb down. If you don't believe it was an alien then go and look in the rooms where all the staff are laying dead." Bronwyn was going to retort. "The others are at the Crepe Place. Beatrice is saving you a seat."

No one can deny Crepes so she went down the rope and left Rhia with the alien. There was some curtain on the floor. It had been ripped from the wall so Rhia thought it was a good idea to tie the alien up. It worked.

Down below, she heard the door open. "Rhia!" It was Ianto and Jack.

"I'm up here." She called down to them. 

They managed to find their way up without the rope. 

"Tosh looked at the CCTV and saw you climbing a rope to save a girl," Jack told her. 

Rhia nodded. "Yep. Saved the girl. Knocked out the alien."

"So you found the week spot then," Ianto said and sighed. "We're having a talk when we get back."

The rest of the situation went by cleanly. They got the alien, cleaned up the bodies and Tosh managed to get the children home after Owen Retconned everyone. Jack said Steven could keep his memories so long as he didn't say anything to anyone. It was late by the time Jack, Ianto and Rhia got home. They ordered takeaway, got into Pajamas and sat on the sofa. The three of them were silent for a minute Rhia spoke.

"I really thought I was doing the right thing. Bronwyn's the mean girl I told you about. She kept denying what she was seeing and she said bad things against you but I had to save her." She explained. "I'm sorry."

Jack and Ianto looked at each other and back at Rhia. Jack spoke. "Rhia, what you did was brave and we're proud of you for saving a life. Even though she's not a particularly nice person but you did a good thing." He paused. "Just never do it again. But if you have to, then don't put your life in danger."

Rhia looked at them both. "Ok. I'm sorry."

"I know you are," Ianto said. "Just never scare us like that again ok."

Rhia bit her lip. "I'll try not to."

"Come here," Ianto told her as he held his arms out. She went to sit on his lap and he hugged her. "I know this is the part where I'm supposed to send you to bed early without pudding but I'm not punishing you for saving a life. I do however hope that this talk has made you think."

She nodded. 

"Where did you learn to climb a rope-like that?" Jack asked.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Over the Christmas holidays, Steven came over a few times now that he knew all about them, there was no risk of him finding out. 

Jack had brought tons of mistletoe and had hung them around the hub and the flat. Any excuse to kiss Ianto in front of everyone was good enough for him. The three of them watched some Doctor who and Rhia had brought her soundtrack into the hub she could play it very, very loudly. 

Owen found something new to argue about. "How does Tosh get three theme tunes and I only get one?"

"Technically you get two," Tosh told him.

"But they're the same four notes over and over again." He counteracted.

Gwen came over. "It sounds good though. I don't have a theme tune, I share mine with Rhys."

Jack watched from the top with a grin plastered on his face.

Ianto came down with coffee. "Mine is emotional." He told them. "According to Rhia." He put down the coffee on Owens desk knowing he couldn't drink it. "Actually Owen, you have another theme. Jack and I were watching some of Rhia's DVDs and it played when you were having you know what with Dianne." 

Ianto didn't say the word because Rhia had just walked in. Owen knew he had lost the argument and stormed out.

"Wait," Tosh said. "They show Owen having Sex on the DVD'S."

Rhia joined in the conversation not understanding what sex was. "Poppy told me Torchwood was a 15 because it showed everyone having sex." She listed it on her fingers. "It showed Jack and Ianto, Tosh and Mary, Tosh and that dude that I forgot."

"Tommy," Tosh said.

Rhia nodded. "Gwen and Rhys, Owen and Dianne, and a lot more. Poppy didn't tell me anymore."

She went to the kitchen for milk. Jack's grin widened at the look of Tosh's and Gwen's faces.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

It was Christmas again and Rhia liked it even more than last year. 

Jack and Ianto spent the night being busy while Rhia was asleep and on Boxing day, Rhiannon and the children came to Caerphilly with presents.

In the middle of January, Gwen started noticing strange this about the rift and found at about flat Holm.

Rhia knew she didn't have a lot of time left with Tosh and Owen so she made the most of it by staying over at Tosh's to let Jack and Ianto have a night to themselves and she went to the fair with Owen a few times too.

She also had her seventh birthday in March and the Torchwood team celebrated it wildly. 

The dreadful day came in May. Ianto dropped Rhia off at his sister's because there was no one else to take her. She knew it was hard and she knew she couldn't say goodbye properly because then someone would notice. Rhia tried to come up with a plan so she could save them but she realised she couldn't save them and the world. It was one or the other.

David and Mica noticed something was wrong and she told them that some friends had died. 

When Ianto came to pick her up some hours later, she could tell he had been crying. Ianto knew he didn't have to tell her what happened because she knew and they went back to the flat in silence. A few tears escaped Rhia's eyes but she knew she could cry later. Jack had just lost his brother and Torchwood had just lost Tosh and Owen. What Torchwood wasn't going to do was anyone else and Rhia said that she wouldn't risk her life, saving anyone anymore but she didn't care about that.


	11. Reading the future

Ianto woke up in the middle of the night. It had been a week since Tosh and Owen had died and no one had had a break. The rift had been throwing things at them at all hours of the day and no one had time to mourn them. Jack suggested that Rhia should have a few days off school since everything was just as hard on her then it was on everyone else.

Ianto turned his head and saw that Jack was fast asleep. That didn’t happen very often because he often had terrible nightmares though he covered it with the excuse that he didn’t need sleep. Trying not to wake Jack, he got out of bed and went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He gulped it down in one and put the glass in the sink. He started to make his way back to Jack but he thought he should check up on Rhia.

He opened the door to find Rhia sitting on the window sill and looking out of the window. She was holding tight to the pink fluffy dog with a brown eyepatch that Tosh had given her for her first Christmas and he saw she was wearing her bobble hat that Owen had gotten her for this birthday.

The sight broke his heart. “Can’t you sleep?” He asked her.

Rhia turned to look at him and shook her head.

Ianto went towards her bed and pushed back the covers. “Come on. Let’s get you nice and warm in bed and then we’ll talk about it if you want.”

The little girl got off her window sill and climbed into bed but made no attempt to get comfy. She still clung onto her things that reminded her of Tosh and Owen the most, not letting them out of her grip.

“It’s ok to miss them Rhia.” He told her softly. “You’re only seven, you’re allowed to be upset.”

She shrugged. “But I knew it was going to happen. I should be over it by now.”

“It doesn’t work like that I’m afraid.” He pulled her into a hug and the two of them let some tears escape. “Both of them loved you a lot. I’ve never seen Owen be that nice to anyone.”

They were quiet for a minute or two. “It’s not like they can even be together. Is it true when everyone who comes back to life says there’s nothing after you die?”

“Hard to tell,” Ianto told her. “They could be telling the truth or there could be something that makes them forget.”

Rhia thought about it. “Sounds very Torchwood.”

“Yeah, it does.” He said. “What we need to do is cry about it for a little bit but then we need to be brave and remember what good people they were.”

“And how annoying Owen was,” Rhia said.

Ianto nodded. “Especially about how annoying Owen was.” He placed a small kiss on top of her head. “Do you think you’ll manage to get a few hours’ sleep tonight?”

“I’ll try.” She told him.

He stood up. “You know where I am if you need me.” Then he went out of her room and closed the door. Ianto didn’t go back to his room however, he picked a book from the bookcase and sat on the sofa to read it.

The next thing he knew, it was morning and his book had fallen to the floor. Ianto sat up and went to open the curtains. It looked like it was going to be a sunny day but this was Wales. Snow could fall by tonight.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Over the next few weeks, Gwen, Jack, Ianto and Rhia soldiered on as they had too. They had time to Mourn Tosh and Owen so now they had to carry on saving the world.

Rhia kept going to school and talked to Steven about most of the things that had happened lately. One day in May, Rhia and Ianto went to the hub only to find the place going into Lockdown just as they got in.

"Jack, what's going on?" Ianto called up to him.

Jack came down. "Wasn't me. It was automatic. Somethings going on with Atmos."

Rhia sat down on the sofa and got out some paper. She wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Gwen came up from the cells and joined in the conversation. Rhia had told them weeks ago not to install Atmos into their cars and did they listen? 

"Rhia, do you have any idea what's going on?" Jack asked the Seven-year-old.

The little girl put down her pencil. "Just some Soltarans planning to take over the world."

"Soltarans?!" Jack said in alarm.

Rhia nodded. "The Doctor, Martha and Donna sort it out. It's a double parter."

"Must be dangerous if it's a double parter." Ianto joked.

"We can watch it later. Season 4 is my favourite but we can't watch it until the entire season is finished." She added.

Ianto went upstairs to make coffee and some hot chocolate for Rhia. The four of them spent the next six hours in lockdown before the hub opened back up. By this time, the Soltarans had already been defeated and the air had cleaned up. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

May turned into June and then, it was only a week until July. Rhia knew it was time. The time the Daleks stole earth and attempted to destroy reality. There was a big plot hole in that. If the Daleks were to destroy reality, then wouldn't they destroy themselves?

Saturday morning came around and Rhia woke up early from her nap on the sofa. It had been an all-nighter last night. Something to do with strange energy patterns coming from all around the earth.

Jack was in his office and the other two adults were in the main room, looking at the computers. Any minute now, planet earth was going to join twenty-six other planets and she'll see her first Darlek. 

Rhia thought it would be a good idea to stay on the sofa. Her gut instinct was telling her it would happen just about... "You might want to hold onto something." She warned them.

"Why?" Gwen asked. 

Then the earth shook. 

"I think you got your answer," Ianto told her.

Jack came rushing down from his office. "Ianto, Rhia, Gwen. Are you all ok?" He called.

"No broken bones. Slight loss of dignity. No change there then." Ianto said.

Rhia got up from the sofa and went up to them. "I didn't know it was that big."

Jack pulled her into a hug. "What do you mean."

"In the episode, the earthquake was smaller." She told him.

Ianto moved to a computer. "Time might be changing again. This can't get too bad, can it? "

Jack went to check outside.

"Or maybe it can," Gwen said.

The immortal came back through. "So we have a bit of a situation."

Rhia sat on the chair that once belonged to Tosh's desk and waited. 

"Rhia. Just so we know what we're looking for, is this our normal invasion, end of the world kind of thing?" Jack asked her

The little girl shook her head. "No, this is a crazy end of the Universe type of thing."

Before the others could answer, the phone rang. That was another thing that puzzled Rhia. How could they make and take phone calls when the satellites were on the other side of the universe? She went up to Ianto and help onto his arm.

He looked at her. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine." She told him.

Ianto put an arm around her. "We'll keep you safe."

Rhia nodded and listened to the phone conversation Jack was having with Martha. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

After the Daleks had made themselves known and Jack had gone to find the Doctor, Ianto took Rhia's hand brought her through the archives to the lower levels. He took her to a dark corner and put a torch next to her. "Stay here ok."

"But..." Rhia started.

He placed a kiss on her head. "You forget that you're only seven. The Daleks are coming for the hub so Gwen and I have to go and deal with them."

"But there should only be one Dalek." She told him.

Ianto sighed. "Time changed. We have no idea what's going to happen so you have to promise to stay down here until either Gwen, Jack or I come and get you."

She paused for a moment. "Ok, I promise."

Ianto pulled her into a quick hug. "Rwy'n dy garu di, fy baban merch." He then left her safely in the lower levels as he made his way to the main hub.

Rhia leant against the wall and tried her best to hear what was going on upstairs but she couldn't hear a thing. The walls were soundproof. She turned the torch on and looked around. There were two floors of lower levels in the hub. The first floor was under the main archives and right next to the shooting range. The second one was the lowest point of the hub. Ianto had told her there were probably some secret tunnels on this level that went all the way under Wales. Some of them might've collapsed but some of them might still be in use. Jack had once said something about the tunnels running to each Torchwood base. So tunnels from Cardiff to London, Glasgow and wherever Torchwood four was. Probably in Belfast or Dublin. No one really came down here, not even Ianto. The seven-year-old found an old box in the far corner. It was dusty so she blew it away. Rhia knew she shouldn't touch anything but this was history that no one knew about. 

She reached for the first bit of paper that was on top and she read it.

**_19th January 1881_ **

**_A few Torchwood files came through the rift_ **

**_from the date 22nd August 2006 to 22nd August 2026._ **

**_Information about Torchwoods future_ **

**_Classified!_ **

Rhia put it down. In 2026 she would be 25. She picked up on one of the files for 2007.

_**Torchwood Cardiff. List of members:** _

_**Captain Jack Harkness. Leader** _

_**Owen Harper. Doctor, Second in command.** _

_**Toshiko Sato. Techy. (See page 44 for personal file)** _

_**Ianto Jones. PA** _

_**Gwen Cooper. Police liaison** _

She moved onto a file from 2018.

_**Torchwood Cardiff. Members.** _

_**Captain Jack Harkness. Leader** _

_**Ianto Jones. Archivist, Second in command** _

_**Gwen Cooper. Second in command** _

_**Martha Jones. Medical** _

_**Steven Carter. Part-time stand-in.** _

Rhia grinned. Maybe she shouldn't have looked into the future but never mind. This meant Ianto and Steven would be alive. She put the files down and looked across the vast room. There was a camera recorder in front of some more classified boxes. She went over and picked it up and started recording.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

A few hours later, Gwen came to pick her up from the lower archives.

"There you are, sweetheart." She pulled her into a hug. "Everythings ok now."

Rhia smiled. "That's good. It isn't easy being in a room full of secrets that you can't touch."

The two of them walked back up to the top. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Ianto was exhausted. Yes, it was only one in the afternoon, but that morning had been hectic. When Jack came through the door, Ianto let out a sigh of relief. 

"Told you I'd be back. "The immortal told him.

Ianto gave him a tired smile. "Never doubted you." 

Jack embraced him. "You alright."

"I'm fine." He tightened the hug. "Well, I will be once I know everyone else is safe."

"Where's Rhia and Gwen?" Jack asked.

Ianto pulled back from the hug and sat down on the sofa. "I took Rhia down to the Lower levels before the Dalek broke down the door. Gwen went to get her."

Jack inspected him and saw his lover wince slightly. "Ianto, are you sure you're alright?"

The younger man sighed. "I may have twisted my ankle slightly."

Jack knelt on the floor and took Ianto's foot. He gently took his shoe and sock off before giving it a look over. "I think slightly might be an understatement. How long ago did it happen?"

Ianto bit his lip. "Around...five hours ago. Give or take a bit."

"Ianto, I asked you earlier if you were hurt!" Jack said as he stood up. "Put it up on the sofa. I'll go and get some ice." 

Just as Jack had gone to get ice, Gwen and Rhia came up from the Archives. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

When they finally got to go home at around seven, Rhia had a bath and went straight to bed. 

Jack helped Ianto onto their bed and checked his ankle again. "I wish you had told me."

"You were busy saving the universe." Ianto pointed out. "And I didn't notice it until later on."

The immortal wrapped a bandage around it. "It's quite bad. It'll take longer to heal than it would've done if you had told me."

"But then you'd be worrying about it all day," Ianto told him.

Jack smiled softly. "Ianto, I constantly worry about you." He leant in to kiss him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm currently writing the last few chapters all at once at the moment and the next one should hopefully be here on Saturday or Sunday. That seems to be the pattern at the moment.   
> I know the chapters will have a few grammar mistakes in them, but when I've finished the book then I'll check over them again and try and spot it all.   
> I hope you enjoy reading this and thanks for those who have dropped Kudos.   
> Another thing I want to say is that if you think there should be another tag added then please don't hesitate to tell me.   
> The last thing is that I am very surprised I managed to spell hesitate without a spell checker XD.


	12. The calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, people. The last chapter before everything goes wild, and when I say wild I mean wild.  
> Children of earth is and always will be wild.   
> Everything in this story has led up to the next two chapters.
> 
> I emailed an expert in the British museum asking if Pteradactls had serotonin levels. I was doing some work the other day and I thought about chocolate and one thing lead to another. I haven't got an answer yet unfortunately but I'll let everyone know.

Sometime in the summer Holidays, Steven came around to the hub. He had not been since the issue with the alien in the Millennium centre so he was naturally excited. Rhia met him up at the information centre. She took him down to the Main hub. Myfanwy was flying about but Rhia thought she only did that to show off. Jack was doing reports in his office and Ianto was making drinks. Gwen hadn't come in today because she wanted to spend a bit of rare time with Rhys. Jack had said the rift would be quiet for a few days which was the reason why he let Rhia invite Steven over. It had taken a lot to convince Alice to let Steven come over but she eventually gave in.

  
"I can show you around properly now," Rhia told her friend. "What do you want to see first?"

  
Steven gazed around. "Can we look around the lower levels?"

  
At that moment, Ianto came down with two glasses of juice for them. "Not without supervision. You two would get up to mischief down there. The temptation of looking at the future is too hard to resist.” He mostly directed the last part to Rhia. He had seen her on CCTV looking at the files in the future.

  
Jack came out of his office at that moment and put both of his hands on the rail. His face had a massive smirk on it when he saw Ianto, Rhia and Steven. “Did I hear someone say a supervised tour of the lower levels?”

  
“I said nothing about a tour,” Ianto said.

Jack came down the stairs and gave Ianto a gentle kiss before hugging Steven. “Not seen you for a while. I hope you’ve been good.”

  
Steven grinned. “I’m always good Uncle Jack.”

  
“Good at never getting caught,” Rhia added

  
“Are we going then?” Ianto asked.

  
Rhia and Steven nodded and the four of them left for the lower levels. Jack decided to come along as well because he’d only been down there twice in the 109 years he had been a part of Torchwood. The first time had been when the original leaders had used it as the cells/torture chamber. It had been 1900 and they had made him execute one of the prisoners. He had only been at Torchwood a year by that point. The second time was in 2000 when he needed to store the files of the previous generation of Torchwood members.

  
The four of them arrived at the bottom and Ianto told the younger two to stay close and not to touch anything. After half an hour of looking through old boxes, Steven had an idea.

  
"Could you tell us a story, Uncle Jack?" Steven suggested. 

  
Rhia and Ianto turned to look at them.

  
"What kind of Story?" Jack replied.

  
The young boy shrugged. 

  
Jack thought about it for a moment. "I'll tell you about the tunnels. Rhia finds them fascinating."

  
Steven smiled broadly. "Where are they?"

  
"Somewhere around here." He spoke. "There are seven of them in total, but I've only found four of them."

  
"Where do they go?" The little boy asked.

  
Jack grinned. "I'll tell you when I tell my story." He found an old wooden chair and sat on it backwards. "So around two or three hundred years ago, there were these large groups of people called smugglers. They transported really valuable and illegal goods all over the world. They would go anything to get these valuables across the water. They dug tunnels and sailed boats in the dead of night. The tunnels are all over Wales. Some of them are connected and some of them aren't. Most of them collapsed but in the war, the people discovered them and patched them up in case of an air raid."

  
"Wow," Steven exclaimed.

  
Ianto went around the corner for a moment and came back with a box. "These are some of the original blueprints." He took the papers out and handed them to the children. "This place was built deliberately on the tunnels and the ruins of one of Cardiff's Secret Castles."

  
Rhia looked up to him. "But I thought Cardiff only had three Castles?"

  
"In that universe, maybe," Ianto explained. "Here, there are three standing castles but they suspect there were at least two more."

  
The four of them spent a few more hours there. Jack told them some more stories and they discovered a few more boxes full of old papers. Soon, it was time to drop Steven back home and for the other three go out for dinner. They didn't often get to go out any more so this was a treat.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

  
It was only a week until Christmas and it was a quiet day in the hub. Ianto and Jack were busy in the office so Gwen thought she would take Rhia out to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. Ianto said it would be a good idea so she could get some fresh air no matter how cold it was outside. They spent a few hours around Cardiff picking up random Christmas decorations that they will forget about after Christmas.

They went to a café to warm up a little. They both had spiced hot chocolate and a piece of millionaire shortbread each. While they were eating, Rhia had an idea.

“Could we get something for Tosh and Owen?” She asked Gwen.

Gwen sipped her beverage. “What were you thinking?”

Rhia shrugged. “Some candles or something. We make them a shrine.” She immediately thought about the shrine in her universe. “It could become a Torchwood tradition.”

“Sounds like an idea.” The two of them had finished their drinks so they went up to leave. “I think the shop around the corner sells candles I think.”

“Ok. They only need to be simple candles.” They walked out of the café and went around the corner to a smallish shop that sold a lot of scented items and shiny rocks and most importantly, Candles. “Tosh and Owen have a shrine in the other universe,” Rhia told Gwen. “Well really it’s for everyone and it’s in front of Ianto’s information centre.”

Gwen got a few candles of the top shelf and handed them to the little girl for inspection. “Did you visit?”

Rhia smelt the candles and handed one back to Gwen. “This one smells like almonds. Owen couldn’t stand them.” She picked a candle form the bottom. “Most diehard fans visited the shrine. Even from New Zealand. It’s in the top fifty sights to see in Wales so even people who haven’t watched the show would go and see it.” She wasn’t going to mention that it was technically Ianto’s shrine.

“A lot of people just like watching us running around with guns ablaze shooting at aliens,” Gwen said. “There are some non-smelly candles over here. Will they do?”

Rhia nodded. “Yeah. We don’t want Myfanwy getting excited over the smells.” She stated. “A lot of people think you’re heroes and they look up to you. People watch Torchwood because they love people, not because of the aliens.”

Gwen smiled. “Even though it’s a show about aliens.”

“Exactly.” They walked up to the counter. “Though a lot of people stopped watching it after season three.”

“What happens in season three?” Gwen asked.

Rhia put the candles on the counter. “You’ll find out when we get there.”

The two of them got the bus back to the millennium centre so they only had to be out in the cold for a few minutes. They went down the lift with their bags and Rhia got the candles out. She went around the hub to see where would be the best place to put them. Rhia found a space in the corner of the hub that was visible anywhere you looked. There was a shelf with nothing on it so she put the candles there. Jack and Ianto came down from the office looking slightly ruffled up.

“You two been busy?” Ianto asked.

Rhia nodded. “I got Candles for Tosh and Owen. Could we light them?”

Ianto went to the kitchen and came back with some matches. “Always knew these would come in handy.” He told his little girl. "I'm sure Tosh and Owen would love it that you went to get something for them."

"Maybe," Rhia said. "Tosh might but Owen doesn't like candles."

Ianto lit the Candles. "Owen was never satisfied with anything."

"Apart from a dead alien on the autopsy table," Rhia stated.

Gwen laughed and sorted out the shopping bags.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

This Christmas went slightly different from the others. Mica, David and Rhiannon spent Chrismas eve all the way to Boxing day at their flat in Caerphilly. Rhiannon slept on the sofa and Mica and David had blow-up mattresses in Rhia's room. Originally Mica and Rhia were going to sleep on Jack and Ianto's bed while David had a mattress on the floor but Rhia refused to sleep in their bed for obvious reasons.

On Christmas eve, they had the fire on as they watched a Christmas DVD and ate popcorn. Then the children went to bed so tomorrow could come quicker and the adults set to work to make the place look magical. By the end of the night, the three of them sat on the sofa with a glass of wine.

"It's going to get crazy tomorrow," Rhiannon told them. "Especially with three of them."

Jack put his arm around Ianto. "We'll manage. They'll be asleep by two."

"Mica will be," Ianto said as he sipped from his glass. "David will try to still be up but he'll be asleep by half three. Rhia, on the other hand, won't be asleep until she has to go to bed no matter how tired she gets."

Rhiannon nodded." I seemed to notice that she hates naps. I used to be the same."

Ianto sighed. "I think it's because she doesn't want to miss anything." It was Christmas day tomorrow and something always happened on Christmas day. Or maybe not. Last year was the Titanic, the year before was the Racnos and the time before that was the Sycorax. Who said anything about this year being infested by aliens. Ianto looked at the time and saw it was nearly midnight. "I don't know about you but I'm exhausted." He reached over and kissed Jack before getting ready for bed. 

Jack stood up as well. "See you in the morning, Rhiannon. I hope the sofa is comfortable enough."

Rhiannon nodded. "I'm used to sleeping on the sofa."

Jack went into the bedroom and saw that Ianto was already almost fast asleep. He got into the covers and wrapped himself around the younger man. "Night Ianto."

"Night Jack," Ianto mumbled.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Mica was the first to wake up the next morning. Next morning being four hours after the adults managed to get to sleep. Mica knew by now that if the sun hadn't begun to shine then she wasn't allowed out of the bedroom unless she needed to get a drink. She got out of the covers and went to the window without making a sound. The curtains were already open a little so she only had to peek through and what she saw thrilled her. Outside was completely covered in fluffy white snow. Snow on Christmas never happened and she couldn't wait to go outside so she didn't wait. She went out of the room and put her wellies on before sneaking out of the door. The only problem with the door is that it locks from the outside and you can't get back in without the key.

An hour and a minute later, Rhia woke. Her clock said it was 5:13 am so it was far too early to wake up. She was about to try and get some more sleep when she noticed something. Mica wasn't in her bed and it looked like she hadn't been there for a while. The curtain was drawn wide open so Rhia could see the snow coming down heavily. If there was one thing her little cousin loved, it was snow. If there was one thing Mica couldn't do, it was waiting. 

Rhia slipped out of bed and went to the window. She couldn't see anything, it was snowing that much. Rhia put her dressing gown on and went out of her room. Aunt Rhiannon was still asleep on the sofa so Mica obviously hadn't woken she up. Without waking Rhiannon up, Rhia went into Jack and Ianto's room and hoped they had something on.

"Ianto." She called as loudly as she could without making too much noise. He didn't stir so she shook him. "Wake up. Mica's gone." He still didn't wake up and that was saying something since he was a light sleeper. She went to the other side to try and wake Jack up. "Jack!" She called a little louder. "It's snowing a lot. Mica's gone!" 

Rhia realised neither of them was going to wake up any time soon. Jacks rift alert went off and he never slept through that. She went out of their room and switched the living room light on. Or tried to. There was a power cut. Rhia then tried to wake Rhiannon up but no luck. Then she tried David but she got nothing. The seven-year-old went to the living room and looked around for anything. She saw half-empty glasses of wine on the coffee table. The adults had drunk that last night and Jack had more than one glass. He never drunk wine. David had had a sip last night too. 

Oh. They had been drugged.

Next thing Rhia needed to do was try and phone Gwen. She went to get Jacks phone and she called her. It was picked up on the second ring.

"Jack?" Gwen answered.

"No, it's Rhia," Rhia said.

"Is everything ok sweetheart?" She asked. Rhia could hear the worry in her voice but the phone started crackling.

"Everyone got drugged by the wine and they can't wake up. Mica's went out in the snow by herself." She explained.

There was a slight pause on the other end. "Th-S-gnle-bad." The phone went dead. Rhia didn't know if Gwen had heard her or not but it looked like she was on her own.

There wouldn't be any light for at least another two hours and she had no one to help her. Gwen might know that there was trouble but there was no way she would get to Caerphilly in this weather. Rhia was on her own.

She had two choices. 

  1. Wait for the adults to wake up and for the snow to stop. 
  2. Go out and find Mica alone and hope for the best.



Mica was more likely to survive she went out to find her. 

Rhia went to get a waterproof bag and stuck a blanket inside along with Mica's coat, hat, scarf and gloves with an extra pair of fluffy socks and a jumper. She also put Jacks phone inside of there as well. She knew it wouldn't work but there was a tracking thing on it. Next, she heated a tin of soup and put it in a flask. Then she put in a couple of battery power torches and she put on an extra layer of clothes. She was ready to go out when he thought of something. There was no way she could carry her cousin all the way back home. She looked around the room and saw a snow sledge by the Christmas tree. A present Ianto to Mica. It would have to do. Rhia was now ready to go out but not before she took the spare key. 

She was completely on her own now. The snowstorm had calmed down a little bit but it was still almost impossible to see. She couldn't go too far from the flat just in case, but she didn't know-how far Mica went.

"MICA, WHERE ARE YOU!" She shouted.

She kept shining her torch in every corner and she kept shouting. 

"MICA!" This kept going on for a while. Rhia had no idea how much time had passed but she noticed the sky getting lighter. She guessed that she had been out for at least an hour. Any hope of finding Mica or her way back home was draining from her. She was lost and she had no idea what to do. Rhia sat on the sledge and she felt a few cold tears slip down her face.

"It's going to be ok Rhia." A voice next her said.

Rhia turned and saw Tosh. Well, someone or something that looked like Tosh. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tosh." The imposter told her.

"No, you're not. I've watched enough Doctor Who and Torchwood know that if you're dead then you're dead." Rhia told her.

The other person shrugged. "Worked for Owen didn't it?"

Rhia looked over to her. "Owen was still dead."

"Ok, you've got me. I'm not Tosh but I have her form and memories." Not Tosh explained. "I'm part of the rift."

"Which makes it harder for me to trust you," Rhia told her. "How can you be part of the rift?"

Not Tosh sighed. "The rift is sentient. Sometimes it can take a human form and move around. Only you can see an hear me."

"So it's sort of like the moment then," Rhia stated. "Or bad wolf."

Not Tosh nodded. "Bad wolf is also part of the rift. Tosh was the only one who found out the rift was sentient so that's why I took her form and not Owens." 

Rhia thought about it for a moment. She believed what Tosh was saying. "I need help."

"There are two things you need help with. Finding your cousin and with what you need in a few months." Tosh told her. She saw the look on the little girls face. "You're mind is also slightly connected to the rift. That's why you have the mental ability of a fifteen-year-old." She stood up and held out her hand for Rhia. "I'll take you to Mica and I'll bring you back home. You must not tell anyone about me though."

"I won't. I promise." Rhia told Tosh.

Tosh smiled and led the way to Mica. "There are a few things you must understand Rhia. You must do what you need to do by yourself but you don't need to do it. No one will make you do anything you don't want to."

"I want to do it," Rhia said.

"That's your choice. The rift watches out for children like you."

Rhia looked up to her. "There's more like me from other universes?"

Tosh nodded. "Scattered through time and space. Each with a new chance to live and each with a task they can complete if they wish. We call them the children of Torchwood. In linear time, you're the first one and there won't be another for thousand years."

"This sounds like an entire story plot for a season of Doctor who," Rhia muttered. She had gotten quite a few answers now but her main priority was Mica.

They reached a tree and Rhia found Mica curled up under it. She checked her pulse. It was weak but it was definitely there. Tosh knelt beside them and helped Rhia get Mica into the warm clothes. Tosh picked the younger girl up and she carried her all the way to the door of the flat while Rhia walked next to them.

"You'll see me again but not any time soon. Your family should be waking up soon." She told the little girl.

Rhia hugged her. "Thank you, Tosh. 

"There'll always be someone looking out for you." She unlocked the door. "Be brave little Rhia." Then she vanished into thin air. 

Rhia blinked and managed to get Mica inside the flat. The clock on the oven said half six in the morning. At least the electricity was on. She took her wet coat and everything off and she went to Jack and Ianto's room. It looked as if they had just woken up but they looked alarmed when they saw the mess Rhia was in.

"Mica's ill." Was all she said before the two of them were out of bed. She told them the whole story apart from the bit with Tosh. 

Rhiannon was still knocked out so she didn't know anything was happening. 

Jack had put Mica in Rhia's bed and had put extra blankets around her. Rhia had got some warmer things on as well. Mica had been on the border of hyperthermia and Rhia hadn't been much better. Ianto took Rhia to his and Jacks room and had snuggled her up in the duvet. Jack came in not long after.

"Are you sure you tried everything before you had to go out after her?" Jack asked.

Rhia nodded. "I tried everything. I couldn't wake anyone up or call anyone and I couldn't leave Mica alone outside."

Jack shook his head. "Next question is, what the hell was Mica doing outside in the first place?"

"And who drugged the wine," Ianto asked.

Jack moved a strand of hair out of Rhia's eyes. "Sorry, Rhia. Christmas might have to be postponed a little this year."

Rhia sighed. "That's ok. We're all safe here now though."

Ianto stood up. "Try and get some rest."

She nodded and Jack and Ianto went outside. Ianto pulled Jack into a hug. "We could've lost both Jack." He muttered into the older man's shoulders.

"I know and It scares the hell out of me," Jack told him. "This is why Family and Torchwood don't mix."

The rest of Christmas went into a blur. Gwen called up around lunch and was frantic. Jack had to explain to her as best as he could. Rhiannon was horrified that she managed to sleep through it all but Ianto tried to tell her that they had been drugged. David thought the story was epic and was sad that he missed it. Mica woke up later after she had warmed up a bit and had told three worried adults that she had no idea what happened. One minute she was looking outside the window and the next, she was in the snow. Rhia had stayed inside for the rest of the day. All of this was very strange and for some reason, she was always in the centre of it all.

The rift Tosh stood invisible in a corner of the flat and watched everything that occurred that day. After she had shown herself to Rhia, she went to deal with the creature that had lured Mica out and had drugged the adults. The creatures intention had been clear. The invasion of Torchwood. The rift had a job and that was to make sure Torchwood was kept on its toes. It also needed to look after the children of Torchwood and make sure they knew what they had to do. The rift always gave the children a choice. Stay in this new life and carry on or go back to the old one. The ones who stayed were given a really important job. Though they didn't know it, they were the protector of the universe and it all started here with Rhia Jones.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

The months went by quick and soon, it was Rhia's birthday. She was eight years old and spent most of her birthday at school. 

Then it was Easter, then May then June and July and August. 19th of August to be exact. Ianto's 26th. Back in Rhia's universe, it was the last birthday Ianto had. Then August slipped by and then it was the first of September 2009...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised that I never put Jonny in the fic.   
> Never mind. Never really liked him anyway.  
> Also, I had no idea what was going to happen in this chapter until I wrote it.  
> So the rift is now sentient and looks like Tosh. Well, it worked for the Moment in season seven that looked like BadWolf. I hope you enjoy reading it.


	13. The fight for Earths children. Part one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be similar to CoE, but the difference is that they have an eight-year-old. Also, I remembered to put Jonny in it this time.  
> This stuff is going to get really intense really quickly. Well, I hope it comes across that way.  
> Hope you enjoy it.

**Day one- 7:30 AM**

The most intense week Rhia had ever experienced had just started. She was staying with Steven and Alice last night because Jack, Gwen and Ianto were run off their feet. It was the second week of year five and their teacher was called Mr Samul’s. He was alright but he expected them to be mostly work and no play.

Alice gave them toast and jam for breakfast and told them to get ready for school while she did some important adult things. Rhia constantly looked at the time and when Steven asked her what was wrong, she just said it was going to be a busy week.

At 8:40 exactly, every child apart from Rhia stopped. She watched her best friend from the stairs and started to feel ill. Alice came down the hall and asked if they were ready. She saw how pale the little girl was and asked her about it as she put a hand against her forehead to check the temperature.

“Rhia, are you feeling alright?” She concerningly asked.

The eight-year-old shook her head.

Alice looked at her watch and sighed. “Would you be alright here for a few minutes while I take Steven to school?”

Rhia nodded.

“Go and change out of your uniform and lay on the sofa. I won’t be long, promise.” She closed the door and Rhia watched them get into the car from the window. Then she went upstairs and put on some spare clothes before sitting on the sofa.

She waited. Not for Alice to come back (Well she was but this isn’t about that) she waited for it all to go wrong.

Five minutes later, Alice came through the door and made herself a cup of tea and Rhia a glass of juice. She came into the living room and sat down beside her. “How are you feeling?”

Rhia shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to call someone?” She asked.

“No thanks.” She replied. “They’re busy at the moment. Jack should be coming over soon though.”

Alice went to put the heating on. The room was colder than it should’ve been for September. “Alright then. You stay there. Some rest will be good for you. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

Rhia smiled. “Thank you, Alice.”

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**1:08 PM**

A few hours later, Alice had to go and pick Steven from school because of this thing going on with the children and the Government had advised all parents to take their children home. By that time, Rhia was feeling a bit better so she played with Steven in the garden. Steven watched his best friend for a while. He knew something was wrong but it was probably something she wasn't allowed to tell him. Even though he knew all about Torchwood and aliens, there were certain things Rhia couldn't tell him for safety reasons.

“Do you think it’s an alien making us all do this?” Steven asked her.

Rhia thought about what to tell him but then she decided that her best friend deserved to know the truth. Well, most of it anyway. “Yes, it’s an alien. A very dangerous alien.”

“What does it want?” He questioned.

Rhia bit her lip. “It wants us.” He looked confused. “As in it wants 10% of the children on earth our age.”

Steven understood what it meant. “Oh.” He paused. “Will Uncle Jack, Ianto and Gwen stop it?”

“Yeah.” She told him. “And I’m going to help.”

“Can I help?” He asked her.

Rhia thought for a second. “Listen to whatever your mummy tells you and don’t do what anyone else says.”

“Apart from you and Uncle Jack.” He said.

“Only if you think it’s the right thing to do.” She told him. Just then the doorbell rang. “That’ll be him and Steven, please don’t say anything about what I just told you.”

He nodded and the two of them went to the living room where Jack and Alice were talking.

Jack turned to them. “Rhia, are you ready to go home?”

Rhia looked from Steven then to Jack. “It didn’t affect me.”

Jack sighed. “Ok.” He turned to his daughter. “Thanks for looking after her.” Then he turned to Steven. “You look after your mother ok.”

Steven nodded. “I will Uncle Jack. See you later Rhia.”

“Bye Steven. Thanks for having me, Alice.” Rhia said.

Jack and Rhia left the house and they went to Ianto’s car. Jack started to drive towards the hub and they sat in silence for a good five minutes before Rhia spoke again. “Its Children of earth so I think it means this earth. I wasn’t born on this earth so it wouldn’t affect me.”

“That makes sense.” He drove on for a bit. “I’m assuming this is a double partner episode.”

Rhia looked out of the window. “It’s a five parter. Takes up the entire season.”

“Well, it can’t be all bad.” He told her.

“Not all bad. Mostly bad.” She turned to Jack. “How many times have you visited the hospital today?”

Jack turned a corner. “Only once. I’m planning to go again.”

It was silent again. Rhia really wanted to tell him but she knew that is she did, then everything could still go terribly wrong. Jack parked by the Plass to let Rhia out.

“Are you alright Rhia?” Jack asked her before she got out. 

Rhia bit her lip. “Jack, don’t go.”

He looked over to her. “Why? What’s going to happen if I go to the hospital?”

She didn’t answer.

“That’s why I need to go because you just told me that it’s got to happen.” He combed her hair out of her eyes. “Ianto’s in the hub. He was going to go to your aunt Rhiannon’s but someone had to look after you.”

Rhia sighed and got out of the car. She made her way to the hub. Ianto was there at one of the computers probably doing some research. Rhia went over to him and sat on his lap.

“How was Stevens?” He asked her.

Rhia shrugged. “He’s alright. I told him to be safe and not to go off with any soldiers.”

Ianto sighed. “I know you’re not allowed to say anything but how messed up is this?”

“Very. Put the Coffee machine in the lower levels and let Myfanwy out but don’t let her back in.” Rhia told him. She really didn’t want Myfanwy getting hurt and Ianto loved the coffee machine a lot. It was a present from Jack after Owen broke the old one.

“We’ll sort that out after.” He told her. “Now we’re going to your aunts.”

Rhia nodded and went to put her coat back on. “Did you remember Mica’s present?”

The look on Ianto’s face said it all.

She rolled her eyes.

“I’ll just give her some money.” He put his jacket on. “And we can’t stay for lunch or dinner. This thing whatever it is is an emergency.

“I know,” Rhia said. "What ages is it targeting?"

The two of them walked to the car. "The youngest recorded was two and a half. The oldest was nearly thirteen but that was because they haven't started growing up yet."

Rhia narrowed her eyes. "But everyone is constantly growing up."

"I don't mean it like that," Ianto told her. He wasn't going to have this conversation now with an eight-year-old. "I'll tell you when you're older."

She sighed and looked out of the passenger window as Ianto started to drive to Newport. They were silent for the rest of the ride and when they got there, Rhia stayed in the car. "You're not going to make me stay here are you?"

Ianto looked over to her. "It's for the best."

"But I've got to be with you, Jack and Gwen." She told him. "Besides, if you leave me with Aunt Rhiannon then its only one more person to look after." Ianto lent back in his seat. "Later on, the entire street is going to let them look after all their children so they can go to work. Uncle Jonny is doing it 10 pounds per child."

Ianto said something under his breath so Rhia couldn't hear what he said.

"And then the soldiers come and try and take all of the children away and there's a very big running scene at the end but the soldiers are to fast for them all but it's alright in the end because Torchwood is epic." She said to him. 

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment before he gave in. "Fine, but you're not going to take any unnecessary risks. If it gets too bad, then I'm bringing you right here."

Rhia smiled. She knew that Ianto wouldn't be able to bring her to Rhiannon's later. 

The two of them stepped out of the car and Rhia rang the doorbell. Rhiannon opened the door a moment later and hugged both her brother and niece. 

"I assume you were busy with your job. You missed Mica's birthday." Rhiannon said sternly. 

Ianto reached his hand into his pocket and brought out his wallet. "I know and I'm sorry."

Rhiannon nodded and went to the kitchen area to start up the kettle. "At least you had the decency to ring."

Mica and David come down from their room and Rhia joined them on the sofa.

"Rhia told me we had the time to ring up," Ianto told her. "But, yeah, its was a busy day."

Rhiannon got two mugs out of the cupboard and filled them both with Coffee. Not as good as Ianto's but Coffee making was in their genes. "How are you and Jack?"

"Completly and utterly in love with each other. " Rhia called from the sofa with a grin on her face. Mica was showing her some of the things she had gotten for her birthday while David played on the Xbox.

Ianto didn't say anything. He just drank his coffee.

Rhiannon leant against the counter. "Are you telling me that neither you nor Jack has told each other yet?" Ianto shook his head. "How long have you been a thing? Since Rhia was five. That's three years Ianto."

"There's never been a good time to do it." He drank more coffee. The truth was that he didn't want to say it because If he did, then Jack would be more hurt when he died. Whenever that was going to be. For all he knew, it could be in three days.

"What a load of rubbish." His big sister told him. 

Those two continued to have their conversation so Rhia thought it would be a good time to tell her cousins something. Technically, it was David who started it.

He put his games control down. "Do you know what's going on?" David asked. Mica put down her things so she could listen more clearly.

"Yep," Rhia answered. "I can't tell you much though."

"What can we do to help?" Mica questioned.

Rhia looked at both of them in turn. "Stay with your mam. Don't go anywhere with anyone unless she says you can. Just keep safe and look out for each other no matter how much to try and convince everyone that you hate each other."

"Will Uncle Ianto and Uncle Jack save everyone?" David asked.

The eight-year-old nodded. "Yes. They will."

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**5:16 PM**

Ianto and Rhia left and an hour later. They went to Caerphilly first so they could get some dinner before they changed into new clothes. By the time they got back to the hub, it had started to get dark. Gwen and Jack weren't back yet from whatever they were doing yet so Ianto went to the archives to see if he could find something similar to this in the past. He's already checked three times this morning but there was every chance he could've missed something important. When he was down there, Rhia saw someone sitting on the sofa. It was Tosh. No, not Tosh. Rift Tosh.

"You're doing a very brave thing." Rift Tosh Told her.

Rhia sat on the chair by Tosh's old desk. "I promised Jack and Ianto not to make any unnecessary risks but this is necessary."

"That's your choice whether it's necessary or not." Rift Tosh said. "You still have a chance to back out of it."

Rhia was quiet for a moment. "If Tosh was alive, would she let me do it?"

Rift Tosh Shook her head. "According to her memories, she'd rather do it herself. She loved you very much when she was alive."

Rhia smiled softly. "Is there somehow you could contact the Doctor? If this is going to work, then I need his help."

"That's possible. I'll tell him to be there on Thursday." She stood up and looked around the hub. "It's a shame this place won't be here for much longer."

"Could you also ask him to bring one of those Gangers?" Rhia asked. "I didn't really like that episode but it's either one of them or the Tesselector."

Rift Tosh smiled. "Yes, I'll make sure he gets the message."

Rhia was was in her thought for a minute before she asked, "Could you tell me more about the Children of Torchwood? I don't really understand it." 

"You're still young." Rift Tosh told her. "I'll tell you when you're older. I'm afraid I have to go now but I'll be there every step of the way." She vanished just as Ianto walked through the door. Rhia couldn't get her head around what Rift Tosh just said. She couldn't wait until she was older. Could she?

Ianto came up to her and ruffled her hair. "You alright?"

Rhia nodded. "Yeah, just confused."

"About what?" He picked up a hair bobble and brushed Rhia's hair into a ponytail.

Rhia shrugged. "Hard to explain." She changed the subject. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing," Ianto told her. He went over to the computer. "Although, I think I might've found something about that man Gwen went to see."

Rhia went over to see what Ianto was doing at the computer. "What, Clem?" She had forgotten about him. She spent the next minute trying to work out of she could save him as well but she couldn't find anything. She sighed. You can't save everyone. 

Gwen walked in. Actually, she nearly ran in but she went down to the Medical bay and put her hand on the scanner. Ianto was telling her what he had found but she wasn't paying any attention. Rhia knew that in less than ten minutes, the hub was going to blow up. Over a hundred years of history gone just like that.

Jack came in not long later. "Ianto, I need you to check something for me. Dr Rupesh Patanjali. One minute he's behind me, next he's dead on the floor."

"Did you die?" Ianto asked. Jack looked at his face then nodded so Ianto pulled him into a quick hug. 

"I need to tell Gwen," Jack said. 

Ianto indicated to the Med Bay. "She's down there."

Jack went to the rails and begun to speak but he saw the scan. "Wait, is that...?"

Ianto and Rhia stepped next to Jack. 

"Woah," Rhia whispered. Seeing something on the Tv and living it are two completely different things.

Jack went to stand next to Gwen. "That's amazing."

"It's brilliant," Gwen said.

At this point, Ianto would've said something about losing the car but they didn't. Ianto left the car in caerphilly because they brought the bus back into Cardiff. Ianto and Jack had planned a date night tonight and Rhia was going to stop with Gwen and Rhys for the night. Not going to happen.

Jack put his hand on top of Gwen's and Rhia closed her eyes and held her breath. For a second, she hoped that maybe there wasn't a bomb but this time there was.

Ianto ran to the computer and Gwen tried to argue with Jack. 

Jack looked at Gwen. “You’re pregnant, get out of here.” Then he turned around and saw Ianto not getting out of here. “Ianto, take Rhia and go!” He demanded. “I can survive anything, you can’t!”

Ianto looked up at Jack's face. "We could stop it. I'm not leaving you." He could see that he was terrified so he grabbed Rhia and took her to the lift. “Jack!”

“Stay safe Ianto.” Then he kissed him passionately and sent the lift up. Rhia clung on to Ianto's arm as the lift went up. They only managed to get to the top Just as the hub blew up.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**8:32 PM**

Around five minutes after the explosion, Ianto opened his eyes. He didn't know how much time had gone but there were no emergency services around so it couldn't have been long. He stood up and looked around at the crater. "Rhia?" He called but not loudly. If someone had done this to Jack, then they were probably still around to check if there were any survivors. 

Rhia sat up and remembered where she was. She looked up and saw Ianto looking around. "Watch out for the snipers." She told him.

Ianto looked at her and then turned around. There was a red light coming from on top of one of the rooves so he picked Rhia up and ran. Rhia clung on as tightly as she could while they dodged getting shot at. They hid in an alley so Ianto could catch his breath.

"I should've left you at Rhiannon's." He muttered. "Any idea what they're going to do next?"

Rhia sat down on the dirty floor. "They're going to break onto our houses. I hope they put everything back where it came from." 

"I doubt they'd do that sweetheart." He told her. He sat down on the floor too so Rhia could sit in his lap while he wrapped his arms around her.

Rhia thought for a second. "They're going to check auntie Rhiannon's house in the middle of the night while they're asleep. They go into Aunt Rhiannons and Uncle Jonny's room while he's naked."

"Thank you for putting that image into my head." He told her.

She grinned. "Your inner Owen is showing."

Ianto grinned too at that.

"Ianto, why do people think that Jack won't feel any pain just because he's immortal?" She asked him.

He sighed. "Because they're idiots. They don't understand what it's like. I don't understand what it's like but I try to. I try my best to help but I can't take away all the pain that he's felt."

Rhia snugged up tighter into Ianto's chest. "Bethany in my class said that she wants to be immortal."

Ianto kissed her on top of her head. "It seems like a dream but in reality, it must be horrible." Rhia stood up and Ianto did the same. "Come on. Let's see if we can get hold of Gwen." They went to find a working payphone. After five minutes, they got through to Gwen who was getting ready to go into hiding. They spoke on the phone for only a minute while Rhia made sure not suspicious cars went past. Ianto put the phone down, took Rhia's hand and took her far away from the phone just in case it was being tracked. He brought her down a side road where they stopped for a second. "Who thought it was a good idea to bring you into this?" He asked himself more then Rhia.

"I did." She told him.

"You're in danger." He said.

Rhia crossed her arms. "I'm going to be in danger no matter where I am in the world." She declared. "So is every single child in the world at the moment as well as everyone who's connected to Torchwood." Rhia studied his face. "You're not going to be able to send me to Aunt Rhiannon's. They have people watching over the house and they know about me."

He sighed but didn't say anything. They carried on walking. It only took a quarter of an hour before Ianto found out how to send a message to Rhiannon.

It was nearly twenty to ten when Ianto and Rhia went back to that alleyway so Rhia could get some sleep.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**Day Two- 7:44 AM**

Ianto woke Rhia up just before eight so he could have a look at the ruins of the hub. They stood in a place where they couldn't be seen but they could see what was going on very clearly. 

Once Ianto had gotten all the information he needed, he took Rhia the long way around to where he said he's meet his sister. If she did get the message. There was every possibility that the note got intercepted and that wouldn't be ideal.

They reached the place they needed to be around five past twelve and Rhiannon was sitting on the bench just outside the park. 

"What the hell happened to you?" Rhiannon asked as she gave Ianto the computer. "The sandwiches and water you asked for are in the boot."

Ianto sat down and Rhia sat opposite. "Thanks." He cautiously kept looking around in case there was anyone there.

"I wasn't followed." She reassured him. "How did you two even get in this state?"

"That bomb was intended for us." He told his sister.

Rhiannon looked appalled. "What did they think they were doing? Did they know you have an eight-year-old?"

Ianto looked across to Rhia who was slightly falling asleep. "They know I have a child so I wouldn't be able to leave her with you because they'd just take her as leverage."

His sister put a hand on his arm. "Has this got anything to do with the children?"

He shrugged. "That's what I'm trying to find out."

"Are the others ok?" She asked him.

Ianto sighed. "Gwen's alive. I don't know where she is though."

"And Jack?"

Ianto looked down at the table. "I don't know."

Rhiannon saw the expression on his face. "He'll be alright Ianto."

"I know." He said. "Can we take the car?"

She nodded. "If you must. Be careful though and watch out for Rhia."

Ianto half-carried Rhia and the computer to the car and strapped her into the back. He got out the sandwiches and the water and put them in the seat next to him so they would be easy to get at. Rhia was asleep by the time he left the park. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**2:53 PM**

Ianto parked next to an old quarry by where they were keeping Jack. Rhia was awake and had worked through an entire sandwich by the time they arrived. He told her to stay there and if anyone came looking, then she had to hide. He didn't like the idea of leaving Rhia in a car by her self while they were on the run but he didn't really have another choice.

He waited for a while and watched everything from afar. Ianto had no plan but the longer he waited, the more time he had to make one up. A cement truck pulled up and started filling in the roof of the building. The sight made him feel ill. How could they do that to another person?

It was half three by the time he had his mind made up. He stole a truck from the construction bit and rode all the way to the prison building.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**4:00 PM**

Ianto drove around to where Jack was. He saw his lover completely naked so he told Rhia to close her eyes and to keep them shut until he told her she could open them again. Jack went to sit in the passenger seat so Gwen and Rhys sat in the back with Rhia. She handed Jack a cheese and tomato sandwich with a bottle of water because he was always hungry after he died.

They headed towards London since that's where they needed to be. Rhia fell asleep in the back again and Jack did the same. He was also always tired after he died. Rhys held onto Gwen's hand and tried to get some answers from all the questions he's asked throughout the past day. Ianto carried on driving and driving. He knew where he was going so he didn't need to have his full attention on it. Everything that had happened was now coming back into his mind. He had nearly lost everything and then he looked over to Jack. He nearly lost everything too but he's the one to have to live with it. Ianto looked back to the road. It was completely deserted and there weren't any cameras. Not much chance of them being followed. 

He took the back roads to an old warehouse that used to belong to Torchwood. Jack was awake now but he didn't speak a word. Ianto didn't blame him. He wouldn't feel like talking either if he got blown up and drowned in concrete. Jack always had nightmares after Gray had buried him alive so this must've terrified him. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**6:09 PM**

Back in Wales, Steven sat on his bed and peered out of his window. It was getting dark and he had no idea what was going on. The news said that Cardiff bay had blown up last night and there was no word from Rhia, Uncle Jack or Ianto. He could tell his mum was getting worried as well because she was constantly looking at the phone. 

All he knew was that he had to be brave and help in any way that he could. Steven just hoped it was enough.

**7:19 PM**

Mica and David were in their room playing with some top trumps when Mica went to get some paper and a pencil from her art draw.

"Are you playing this or what?" David complained.

Mica gave him a look and started to write something on it. David couldn't make it out at first because Mica's handwriting wasn't very neat but he understood. They weren't allowed to talk about Uncle Ianto because the house was bugged. He took the pencil and wrote back to say that he and Rhia would be fine. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**Day three- 6:55 AM**

Rhia woke up and saw the four adults standing around the table which was full of stuff they so happened to have in their pockets. She went over to stand by them. "What are you plotting?" She asked.

Ianto pulled her into a half hug. "Not much." He told her.

Gwen then suggested they should be criminals. 

The five of them went out of the warehouse and started taking things like computers and credit cards. They only took it from the people who looked like they wouldn't even notice if a hundred pounds went out of their bank account so they didn't take it from the people who really needed it. Rhia went with Ianto and stayed to the side of the street until he got what he needed. The two of them went to the shops to get some clothes for everyone. It was only a quick trip for the basics but this was Torchwood so the basics were usually things like leather Jackets. 

They took a final stop to a shop that did vintage clothing and Ianto found a great coat similar to Jacks. "This should cheer him up." He said to her.

"He loves the coat," Rhia said.

Ianto smiled. "So do I."

Rhia didn't want to think about the double meaning in that.

They went to the nearest coop just to get some simple things like Coffee and some mugs

Rhia and Ianto went back to the warehouse and the others were there already.

Jack turned to them when they got in. "Where have you been?" He asked with a hint of worry in his voice. "I thought you had got caught." 

Ianto put the food bags down and handed everyone the clothes he had gotten them. "I was just doing my job." He came up to Jack and threw his arms around him for no reason.

"You alright?" Jack whispered into his ear.

Ianto waited a moment before answering. "I will be." He pulled back and handed Jack his bag. "Here you go."

Jacks face lit up. "You didn't!"

If there was something Ianto loved to see, it was the look of Jacks face after he gave him something he loved. "I certainly did."

The immortal took his package and went to a dark corner to get dressed. He came back a moment later in his full uniform.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**12:19 PM**

Gwen had gone out not so long ago to try and convince Lois Habiba to wear the contact lenses. 

Rhys had taken Rhia out to get some food for the others but they wouldn't be back for at least forty-five minutes

Jack and Ianto were at the computers trying to make sense of all this jumbled up puzzle. Ianto was trying to concentrate on the screen but one thought continuously entered his mind.

"Does it still hurt?" He asked his lover.

Jack looked over to him and hesitated. "Sort of."

Ianto winced slightly. "Is there anything I can do?"

Jack studied Ianto's face. He didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked his own. "Does this bother you?"

The younger man bit his lip and then licked them. He looked away from Jack. "I don't like seeing you get hurt."

Jack knew it wasn't the full truth. "Does it bother you?" He asked again but with more force in it this time.

"Yes." Ianto turned to face him. "I hate seeing you die or hearing about it. I don't like seeing you in pain Jack and all I can do is hold you until you're alive again. It scares the shit out of me because I worry that one of these days, you won't come back."

Jack took his hand. "Ianto, I'm a fixed point in time. You never have to worry about me not coming back."

Ianto looked into Jack's eyes. "So I'll just worry about you always coming back then. People just use that to their advantage and It's not fair on you. One of these days, I'm not going to be here to make sure you're alright. I don't know how much time we have left."

Jack sighed. "We'll just have to make the most of it."

Ianto smiled softly. "There's something I want to say but I'm too scared to say it."

Jack felt his heart swell. He closed the gap between them and the two of them were soon kissing passionately. It was full of raw emotion and power and of not wanting to let each other go. Jack had decided a long time ago that he would never let Ianto slip through his fingers. He made him feel alive and safe and he was felt lucky that a brilliant man like Ianto put up with him.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**1:10 PM**

Rhia and Rhys came back with another bag load of important things. Rhia went to hug both Ianto and Jack in turn and then went to get something to eat.

**1:24 PM**

Every news headline around the world was talking about the children.

**1:55 PM**

All children apart from Rhia stopped again and pointed towards the centre of London.

Rhia sat on the sofa and thought about Steven and her cousins. Steven and Alice would've been taken by Johnson by now.

**2:00 PM**

The 456 had arrived in Thames house unknown to Billions of people who didn't know about aliens.

**2:13 PM**

Jack left the warehouse so he could talk to Frobisher over the phone.

**7:38 PM**

Gwen came back with Clem and the meeting between the 456 and Frobisher began.

**7:40 PM**

Clem shot Jack and Ianto went to hold him like he always did. 

**8:19 PM**

Rhia went to sleep in Jacks coat.

**10:08 PM**

Jack went outside and sat under the stars. He couldn't go to sleep. He'd died so many times over the past few days and everywhere ached. It was almost unbearable but he had no time to wallow in self-pity even if he deserved to do that. He needed to fix this mistake and he needed to hold onto Ianto and Rhia as much as he could. He also needed to help Alice and Steven from this mess he blamed himself 100% for. Ianto would tell him what it wasn't his fault and that he blamed himself too much. It was true he blamed himself for a lot of things but most of them were usually his fault.

He felt someone sit next to him. It was Ianto.

"It's going to be ok Jack." He put his arm around his waist.

Jack shook his head. "This is just a big mess. This could've been prevented."

Ianto kissed the side of his head. "Don't put yourself down over it. We can sort it."

The immortal sighed. "I know. It's just hard."

"And we'll get through it like we always do," Ianto told him. "Just wait and see. By Saturday, we'll be in our own bed trying to have a lay-in while Rhia complains that we sleep too much."

Jack smiled contently at the thought of coffee in bed on a Saturday morning. Ianto always knew what to say to make him a bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just need to ask. Do you like Rift Tosh?  
> I've only just realised the length of this chapter.


	14. The final stage Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter.

**Day Four- 8:01 AM**

Rhia woke up to the sound of a crackling fire and some tins being knocked around. She sat up and saw Jack and Ianto talking by the door. Clem and Rhys were still asleep and Gwen was doing something at the computers. The little eight-year-old suddenly remembered what day it was and got up from the sofa to run and hug Ianto. She clung onto him tightly. Jack hesitated a moment before grabbing his coat and striding out the door. 

Ianto knelt down to her level and moved some hair out of her face. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "I don't like today or tomorrow."

"Does something bad happen?" Ianto questioned. Rhia nodded and he held her tight. "Saturday will be good though. It's going to be over by the weekend."

Rhia didn't say anything. The weekend might be just as bad as the week.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**3:12 PM**

After hours of sitting on a ragged sofa and watching all the adults save the world, Rhia had grown very nervous and fidgety. She listened to the Government make the 456 an offer but they obviously rejected it. They still wanted 10% of the world's population and they weren't going to give up so easily. About 10 minutes later, Rhia heard the rifting sound of the Tardis. No one else heard it so she asked Jack if she could have a run around outside for a while. He said she could but she had to stay out of the view of other people. The little eight-year-old ran around the corner and saw the Tardis. The door opened and out stepped the Eleventh Doctor all alone.

“No Amy?” Rhia asked.

The Doctor grinned. “Not today. I’m supposed to be looking for her daughter.”

Rhia also grinned. “River Song! I’ve always wanted to meet her.”

“Maybe you will.” The Doctor told her. “When you're old enough, maybe you're parents will let you travel with me."

Little Rhia liked the sound of that but it wouldn't happen any time soon.

"Now, what did you want the Ganger for?” The time lord asked her.

“To save Ianto.” She explained.

The Doctor nodded. “You’re lucky that it’s not a fixed point in time.”

She let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Good. I'll go and get him.” Rhia ran back into the warehouse and stopped Ianto from going with Jack before they left to confront the 456. Rhia told Ianto that she wanted to show him something important and he told Jack he would be there in a minute. She brought him around the corner of the warehouse where the Doctor was leaning against the Tardis.

"That's the Doctor?" Ianto asked and the Doctor nodded.

Rhia held onto Ianto's hand. "It's a new regeneration." 

Ianto slowly nodded. "Are you here to help us?"

The Doctor waved his hands about. "Well yes. No. Not in the way you're thinking."

"We don't have time for riddles," Ianto told the older man. "Millions of children's lives are at stake."

"I'm not here to save the children." The Doctor explained. "You and Jack have to do that alone. I'm here to save you by request of young Rhia here."

Ianto took a few steps back. " I die don't I." He stated.

"Yes, but I can fix that." The Doctor said. "We just need to take a quick trip to the future. Make you a double and send it with Jack."

The younger man hesitated. "Would it feel anything?"

"No." The Doctor lied. "It's not really alive, it just thinks it's you."

Ianto looked down at Rhia's face and back to the Doctor's. "I'll only do it for Jack and Rhia's sake." 

The Doctor smiled and opened the door to the Tardis. "Ianto Jones, I welcome you to my Tardis."

Ianto looked around the Tardis and shrugged his shoulders. "I liked how it was before."

Rhia came in and crossed her arms. "You're supposed to say it's bigger on the inside then it is on the outside."

"It's not like I didn't know it was bigger on the inside," Ianto told her. "Jack never shuts up about how big his bed was." He muttered.

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "So, are we ready?"

"Rhia's not coming," Ianto said. He saw disappointment on his face. "Go back to Gwen and help her with something. We'll be back in a minute."

Rhia sighed and skipped out of the Tardis, slamming the door behind her. She ran back into the warehouse where Jack was waiting. She told her that Ianto would be back in a few minutes because he was doing something important. Gwen called her over and asked her to help her with some computer work. 

A few moments later, Rhia heard the Tardis arrive and leave and Ianto came through the door. Jack said they were leaving and they left. Rhia didn't know where the real Ianto was but she suspected that he was keeping a low profile.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**4:19**

A report came in through the computer. Everyone in Thames hours was dead. Gwen gasped in shock and turned to Rhia who was stacking twigs on the warehouse floor. Rhia looked up. "What's wrong Gwen?"

"Oh, Sweetheart." 

At that moment, Johnson and her soldiers came barging in with guns ready to fire. She took one look at Rhia and told everyone to put their guns down. "That's Jones's daughter isn't it?"

Gwen stood up. "Yes, she is and thanks to your little stunt, she nearly got blown up by that nice little surprise you sent us." 

"I feel like an idiot now," Johnson said.

"You should," Gwen told her. She explained to Johnson about what the 456 wanted and then the government was going to have millions of innocent children to them. 

Johnson generally did feel bad. "What can I do?"

Before Gwen could answer, Rhia stood up. "Gwen needs to see Jack and Ianto but I wouldn't be allowed to go with her. Could you take me to Steven and Alice please?"

Johnson looked to Gwen for confirmation but she looked shocked. 

Gwen went over to Rhia. "We can't trust her pet. She's killed a lot of innocent people."

Rhia gave her a look. "Torchwood's killed a lot of innocent people too. I have something worked out but I need to see Steven to do it."

Gwen stared at Johnson. "If I hear that she's hurt in any way, then I'll hunt you down. Understand?"

Johnson nodded. "Understood."

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**4:33 PM**

Rhia was sat in the passenger seat of Johnson's car. There were three other armed people in the back and the other car was behind them. When they were halfway there, Rhia thought it would be a good time to ask some questions. "Does everyone just call you Johnson?" She asked.

Johnson's face showed a second of surprise before returning to is the usual facade. "Only when I'm on shift." She answered. 

"But isn't your job the type where you're always on shift?" Rhia questioned. 

"It's very unpredictable," Johnson said. "A bit like your parent's Job I suppose."

Rhia nodded. "You can't tell anyone about it and you start to lose contact with your family. That's what Gwen used to say."

Johnson took a minute before speaking. "I still talk to my mum when I can and I have a partner... Well, I hope I will still have one after this."

Oh, so that's why she's always in a bad mood. The little girl thought. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." She gave a dry laugh. "You're a child and you're making more sense than some of the adults around here."

Rhia shrugged. "Just because I hadn't experienced life yet, doesn't mean I don't know anything about it." She told her. "Ianto told me that it helps to talk about it."

Johnson sighed. "Grace. That's her name. Grace. We argued and I was going to apologise but work called in and told me to drop everything." There was more to it than that, but she wasn't going to talk about it to an eight-year-old.

"That's annoying," Rhia said.

"Just a bit," Johnson said back. 

The rest of the drive was in silence. 

**5:09 PM**

Johnson pulled up next to the place she had Alice and Steven. They all got out of the car and Johnson led Rhia to them.

Steven saw his best friend first and he ran up to her. "Rhia!" 

Rhia grinned. "Hi, Steven."

"The hub blew up." He told her.

The young girl nodded. "I know, I was there."

Steven sighed. "What do we do?"

"Sit and wait." She told him. She thought of something and laughed. Rhia saw the confusion of her friends face so she explained. "Well it ends tomorrow and I thought of the song 'One day more' from Les Mis."

Someone brought them fish and chips from a chippy and the two children caught up and laughed as they ate.

**7:52 PM**

Alice told Steven and Rhia to get some sleep while. Steven fell asleep almost straight away but Rhia lay awake. It was dark and she knew what tomorrow would bring. She shivered as she thought of it. Someone sat down next to her and stroked her hair. It was Rift Tosh.

"I'm scared," Rhia whispered. She sat up.

Rift Tosh held her close to her chest. "I know you are. That's why I'm here."

"But I've still got to do it." She told her.

"I know." Rift Tosh said. "I have every faith in you Rhia and I know you'll succeed."

Rhia sighed. "Is Ianto ok?"

"He's fine," Tosh reassured her. "I must go now." 

Before Rhia could say anything, Rift Tosh vanished into the night.

About an hour later, she finally managed to fall asleep.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**Day five- 9:00 AM**

Rhia woke up and realised it was late. She didn't have time to be this late. Only three hours to go before the lines of busses took children from their primary schools. She looked around and saw Steven playing with a football one of the soldiers had given him. 

Steven noticed that she was awake. "Rhia, do you want to play football?"

"Maybe later." She told him. "I need to wake up first."

**10:00 AM**

Rhia constantly looked at the clock every few seconds.

Steven sighed. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" She asked.

"You keep looking at the clock." He told her. "You were doing it the other day as well."

Rhia sat on the floor and he followed. "There's one thing you need to know about knowing the future. You have to keep track of the time."

He nodded. "Do we have time for football?"

"Yeah, we have time for football." She answered. 

**11:00 AM**

One hour left. 

**12:00 PM**

Rhia and Steven had a quick lunch before they continued to kick the ball around.

**1:19 PM**

Jack arrived and Rhia tried to follow them into the room but she wasn't allowed. She knew that Jack wouldn't want to look her in the eye anymore because of Ianto but she needed to tell him that it was alright. Somehow. 

She sat in the corridor and waited for her cue. She waited for nearly two hours before she heard Alice shouting. This was it.

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**3:01 PM**

Rhia managed to slip through a small gap in the wall to where Jack and Steven were. Jack was about to press the button. “Jack, stop!”

Jack looked up and saw her. “Rhia, get away from there.” He called.

She ran up to Steven and pulled him off the platform. She completely ignored Jacks calls for her to get away. “Go back to your mum.” She told him.

He didn’t move. “Rhia, what are you doing?”

“I’m doing what I was brought here for.” She turned to Jack. “It took me ages to realise why I was here. I couldn’t save Tosh and I couldn’t save Owen but I can save Ianto and I can defiantly save my best friend.”

Jack shook his head. “But Ianto’s gone. I can’t lose you too, you’re the only part of him I have left.”

“Ianto’s not dead. He’s alive somewhere. I can’t explain how but ask the Doctor. He helped.” She moved into the centre. “Jack, we don’t have time.”

“I can’t.” He looked at Steven and then back to her. “You’re his daughter.”

Rhia couldn’t help but tear up. “But I’m not though am I. Steven is your Grandson and I’m no one but a little girl who showed up in the middle of the Torchwood hub one day. It’s just like Donna. She kept showing up because she had to save the universe and then lose her memory.”

Jack raised his voice. “But this isn’t just losing your memory, this is dying?”

“And you expect me to watch everyone you love die?” She asked. “You have to do it, Jack. We have no time. Please.” Her face was full of emotion that he couldn’t make out.

He wiped away his tears but nodded. “You’ve been brilliant and so brave. It’s going to be fine.” That last bit was to reassure him more than anything. Jack took a deep breath and looked at Steven. “Now go to your mother.”

Steven did as he was told and before Jack pressed the button, he heard Rhia whisper. “I love you, Jack. Tell Ianto I love him too.” It nearly killed him to watch her helplessly crumble to the floor and he couldn’t do anything about it. He saw the door open and Ianto ran in. “Ianto, I’m sorry.” He cried.

Ianto went to where Rhia lay, tears streamed down his face. “What happened Jack?”

Jack went up to them broke down right there. He took Rhia’s cold hand. “Ianto.” He could hardly talk. “What have I done?”

Ianto threw his arms around him. “Everything’s going to be ok.”

“How can it? I just killed our daughter.” He said.

Ianto didn’t reply.

They just sat there and cried for what felt like an eternity.

In the distance, they heard Steven screaming. “LET ME GO. I NEED TO SEE HER.” He managed to break free from Alice’s grip and ran to Rhia. “Why is she like that? Uncle Jack, what’s wrong with her?”

Alice had to explain everything to him and both left the place in tears.

OOOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

Six months after everything was over, Ianto Jack and Gwen sat in the living room of the flat in Caerphilly. The past few months had been hard on all of them. Jack and Ianto had to explain what happened to Rhiannon, Mica and David and they couldn't believe it. The three of them were watching one of the first episodes of Torchwood because it was a way to show them what could've happened when the picture changed. Rhia was on the screen, sitting in the middle of the hub and looking complexly serious.

“Jack, Ianto and Gwen. I don’t know where I will be when you find this, but I can guess. I’ve just worked out why the rift sent me here. It’s because I have to save you.

I’m recording this in the lower levels while Ianto and Gwen are sorting out the Daleks in the hub so we’re not that far from children of earth. Season three Torchwood is one of the seasons I watched before arriving here so I know what happens most of the time. 

Finding myself in this reality is the best thing that I could’ve wished for. I’ve met my hero’s and helped save the world and not many people get to do that. I know what I have to do though. I have to take Steven’s place and somehow save Ianto but I have an Idea.

I need to ask the Doctor to help me because he has everything I need to be able to do it. If I take Steven’s place then he will be saved and I will die but that’s ok. This is Doctor Who and Torchwood. Everyone dies and that’s how it is. At least now Ianto and Jack can be together forever.

I figured out why my mind it like a fifteen-year-olds. I think it was something to do with the rift. It's a very long complicated story that I don't have time to explain.

I need you to watch all the episodes so then you can understand why I did what I will do. I’ve had the time of my life and that’s all I wished for. I don’t want you feeling guilty about it though, cus I know what you’re like Jack. I’m not sorry about my choice and you shouldn’t either. I hope you get the ending you wanted. 

Oh, and before I go, say bye to everyone for me and thanks for letting me part of Torchwood.”

The camera went blank and the three remaining Torchwood members just looked at each other.

“That girl has changed the world,” Gwen said. 

OOO000oooTORCHWOODooo000OOO

**Seven years later.** **23rd August.**

The year was 2016 and Torchwood was more popular than ever before. Jack was still the leader while Ianto was his second in command. They had employed Lois, Andy and sometimes Martha and Mickey came around to help. Anwen had turned five recently but Rhys refused for her to step foot in the hub no matter how much she wanted to pet a Pterodactle. 

One day, the rift started playing up so Ianto and Jack went to see what was dropped off. They arrived at an abandoned field where there was hardly any space to get in so Ianto volunteered to go in alone. It only took ten minutes to get to where he needed to be and was shocked by what he found. A teenage girl with long red hair, fast asleep on the ground. She looked like… it couldn’t be. He turned his com on and spoke. “Jack.”

He heard Jack on the other end. “What did you find?”

“Someone impossible.” He answered.

“Who?” Jack asked.

Ianto took a deep breath. “Rhia.”

The com line went silent. Ianto carried her back to the new SUV and put her in the back. Jack came to take a look. “How can you be sure?” He looked worried. “Ianto, our little girl died seven years ago.”

“She would be fifteen now,” Ianto said. “She looks just like Rhiannon did when she was her age.”

Jack looked at him carefully but nodded. “Ok. We’ll take a look when we get to the hub but she could just be Rhia from another world.”

He drove them back to the hub and Ianto carried her to the med bay. He lay her down and asked Martha to do some scans. Halfway through, Rhia took a deep breath and sat up suddenly. She looked around and grinned. “It worked. I’m back.”

Martha looked at her in astonishment. “So you’re defiantly our Rhia then?”

Rhia gave her a look. “Don’t you recognise me?” She looked at herself in a reflection. “Oh, I’ve grown. How long was I gone?”

“Seven years,” Martha answered. “You can explain all of this later. I’ll go and get the others.”

Rhia took everything in. This hub was obviously new and she liked it a lot. She got up and walked into the main room. It was taller than the original and had a lot more light. The water tower still went down in the middle and Myfanwy’s nest was bigger in the top corner. She heard footsteps run from the office at the top and before she knew it, she was being hugged by both Jack and Ianto.

“Alright, let her breath.” Came Gwen’s voice from behind her.

Jack and Ianto let go reluctantly and took a look at her.

“You’d better start explaining,” Ianto told her.

Rhia sighed. “Well… I died. Then I got stuck in the void for however long and then there were these two people and they gave me a choice. They would either send me back to the universe I was born in or she could send me home and obviously, I chose home.”

“They?” Jack asked.

“Bad wolf and Tosh.” Rhia grinned. “The rift is sentient." She explained at their confused faces. 

Ianto pulled his daughter into another hug. "Please never do something like that again." 

Rhia shook her head. "I won't. " Then she realised something and pulled away. "I can watch Torchwood now." She shouted excitedly.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So then... that's the end of the first book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


End file.
